Here's To Us
by DaughterofAthena15
Summary: What happens when Annabeth finds Percy supposedly cheating on her? What happens when they are given a quest to be completed by only them? Will they hate each other forever, or will love once again make them her bitches? Previously title "Tears For Nothing, Guilt For Free"
1. The Backstabber

**Hey guys, I'm back with a new story. To me, this is a lot different from my first story, ****_Happiness _****(which if you haven't read yet, you totally should), but most of you may think they're very similar. Well, as always, read and review. I love any type of review. If you have a negative review, I encourage you to read it. Flames accepted, as it kinda humors me. **

**P.S. TheAvidReader: IF YOU'RE READING THIS YOU MUST SET UP AN ACTUAL ACCOUNT SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE! AND I LOVE YOU AS IF WE ACTUALLY KNEW EACH OTHER ;)**

**Well, enjoy! Oh, and Percabeth02, if you're reading this, you rock too!**

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Chapter 1

**Annabeth POV**

I'm walking to Percy's cabin when, all of a sudden, Katie comes out of what seems like nowhere and pulls me aside. By Katie, I mean Katie and Travis, her boyfriend. And by pulls, I mean drags. Part of me tells me that I don't want to know why they are doing this, but the other part says that I have to know. Despite how badly I want to see Percy, I let them drag me along to where ever it is they are dragging me. If I want to, I could kick their asses at any time, but the suspense is too intriguing.

"What's this all about?" I ask as we come to a halt in the Aphrodite cabin.

"Silena has some things that she needs to ask you, I guess," Katie responds plainly.

"Okay," I say, turning around to face Silena, "What do you need?"

"Why did you allow yourself to get dragged here when you were on your way to Percy's cabin? If you love him, wouldn't you have told Katie and Travis that it could wait until a later time?" she asks.

"Silena, you know that I'm different than you fucking Aphrodite kids. You all put love first beyond everything else. I put suspicion, school, and quests above all else. And, also, who the hades are you to tell me whether or not I love Percy?! I'll tell you who! NOBODY."

"Then, I ask, why are you here and not there?"

"Suspicion got the best of me. And you know what? You would know that that would happen. So, now the question is, why don't you want me in Percy's cabin right now?"

"I never said that I didn't. I just kind of wanted to play with you. Get you all worked up over nothing. It's an Aphrodite girl thing. You wouldn't understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she says in a sing songy voice.

"Okay, whatever. I gotta go. I'll be in Percy's cabin if you all need me again, so word of advice: don't need me again," I say with all seriousness in my voice. I can tell they know I mean it based on their facial expressions, which is kind of funny, if I do say so myself.

I exit the Aphrodite cabin and start to work my way towards Percy's. All the while, I think about what Silena had said. I mean, seriously? What makes her think that I don't love Percy? What gives her the right to speak such blasphemy? I love Percy and his immortality and everything about him.

Through all of this thought and inside battle, I find myself standing in front of Percy's cabin. I walk into the cabin to find the last thing I used to think I would ever find. What is the image I see in front of me right now you may ask? Oh, well, that would be Percy and Rachel. But, oh wait, it gets better. They were making out. I can't believe it. After all these years of friendship with Percy, then we finally start to date, and he goes and cheats on me!

"Oh, don't let me interrupt," I say as I start to turn away from the cabin, tears brimming my eyes, out of anger and sadness.

"No, wait, Annabeth!" Percy calls out, pulling away from Rachel.

"No, Percy. I'm done," I say then start to run.

It must have been five or so minutes by now, so I stop running, assuming Percy didn't follow me. I hadn't really been paying attention to where I was running, and quite frankly, I didn't and don't care. When I finally stop for long enough, I look around to take in my surroundings. I think I'm somewhere in the woods, but I'm not quite sure. Nonetheless, I'm not going back into camp tonight. I'll crash in the woods. I don't care. The way I see it, I'm doing this for Percy's benefit, despite the fact of what he did to me. I have to sleep off some of this anger before I kill him. Though, the thought of killing him does indeed make me smile right now.

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When I wake up, there's sun all around me. Seems like I slept through the night just fine, despite the fact that I was sleeping on the floor of the woods. I groggily get up and make my way back towards the cabins. I keep walking until I find the lake, since I don't really know my exact location. After at least ten minutes, I finally get to the lake. I then proceed towards the cabins, that is, until I realize that Percy's cabin will be the first I come upon due to the fact that… Well, I think the word 'lake' kind of explains that.

As I approach his cabin, I see him sitting on the dock that's connected from his cabin to the lake. He and I used to sit there for hours just talking and… other things, if you catch my drift. I guess he sees me coming or something because his head jerks up and looks in my direction. I hurry past his cabin only to be met by him at the edge of the woods. I am in no mood to talk to him, as I am royally pissed off.

"Annabeth, come on. Can't we talk?" he asks, though I only push by him, unresponsive.

"Annabeth, just look at me! Please…" he asks as he stops me, grabbing my shoulders, and holding me in place.

I jerk my head up violently and stare him straight in the eye. I lift my eyebrows as if to ask 'what?' as I refuse to actually talk to him. He looks sort of relieved that I gave him a response at all.

"Look, just, meet me in the sword fighting arena at 2 and we'll try to talk about it. Or you can beat me up. That choice is up to you. You deserve it."

I walk past him and make my way towards the showers then hit up my cabin. I'll meet him at the arena, but first I have something I need to do. I'm going to go talk to that bitch, Silena. I have a feeling she may be a part of this whole thing, but then again, she may not be.


	2. Attempted Non-Murder

**Hey y'all! Sorry for such a late update! Algebra II is totally kicking my ass. I'm trying to get my grade up to an A, which I don't think will happen this quarter, but cross your fingers! That and my best friend has been in the hospital for the past few days and I love her to death so I was with her for like an hour today and she's being released tomorrow morning which I'm so happy about! That and I had a Creative Writing I paper due this week so I spent a lot of time writing that. Grammar in this chapter may suck so bear with me. I wrote this at ten o'clock at night and finished it at eleven thirty. I apologize for any suckiness. As always, read and review, my lovelies!**

**Percabeth02: aww, I wish I knew you in real life, too sweetie! Like, you, TheAvidReader, and I would be such great friends. I can see it now haha. I don't know how to get this story to her since she doesn't have an account and she was a guest :( I miss her. We had the best convos over comments and shoutouts, you, her, and I. Sigh. Good times, good times. But I feel like this story is better than Happiness. Not by content and what it's about, but just how it's written and like the imagery and stuff is probably a lot better. and I should probably start posting the chapter before I start rambling on too much here... **

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Chapter 2

**Annabeth POV**

I barge into Silena's cabin like I own the damn place. Her expression reads scared, so she must see how I look. I hope I look like I feel. A.K.A pissed off. She starts to back up, but eventually she hits the wall.

"Annabeth, what is wrong?" she asks me.

"Oh like you don't fucking know!?" I yell at her. Just the sight of her right now is making me angrier. I pull my knife to her throat.

"I'm honestly drawing a blank here. And it's not even one of those cutesy 'Aprhrodite flirty' blanks. It's an honest to gods blank. Like failing a test!" she says in a pleading fashion.

"Okay, (a) I would never fail a test, so I don't know what that's like. Let's see, (b) I know what you did!"

"Enlighten me, Annabeth. What the Hades did I do?" she asks with all seriousness.

"You really don't know, do you?" I ask her, looking her dead in the eye.

"No, I really don't."

"Oh, then, um, never mind," I say, pulling the knife away from her throat.

"Kind of hard to after that flip out. Seriously, what is up with you? First you don't show up for curfew last night and now you come in here screaming at me, pulling a gods damned knife on me."

"Who else noticed that I didn't show up for curfew?"

"Pretty much everyone did. Percy," she starts. I flinch at the mentioning of his name, "Noticed first, then he pretty much told everyone to be on Annabeth lookout. And what was with that flinch I saw when I said his name?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I doubt your mother would let you miss out on something like this…" I say, trailing off. "I really don't want to talk about it, personally."

"Okay…"

"Well, I'll see you later, Silena."

"Yeah, later."

I exit the Aphrodite cabin and glance down at my watch. I'm surprised to see that it is already one thirty. But, then again, that shouldn't shock me since I slept until nearly noon. I have missed breakfast and lunch. That okay, though, since I'm really not all that hungry. I have a feeling that after seeing what I saw last night, I won't be hungry for a while. Tends to be that way when I'm depressed and pissed off beyond belief. Nevertheless, I make my way towards the arena where Percy told me to meet his cheating ass that I am, without a doubt, going to kick to Hades.

When I get there, I see him sitting on the bleachers, waiting for me. He looks rather upset, perhaps feeling guilty about what he has done. In no way shape or form does he look ready to fight. I pull out my knife and he looks up, surprised. He raises an eyebrow as I gesture towards the center of the arena.

"Come on, Jackson. Get off your ass and let's fight. That's what I came here to do. You can talk and fight at the same time, or for your sake, I hope you can."

He gets up off the bleachers and takes out Riptide. I know that you may think that sword against dagger is probably an unfair fight, but you're wrong. I've been fighting with this dagger longer than Percy has known that he's a Half-Blood. He goes to pick up a shield and notices that I don't have one. He tries to hand it to me, but I deny it.

"Fine," he says, "I won't use one either then."

"Whatever," I say, putting in an ear bud. I always practice with music, but since Percy is going to be talking and explaining, I figure that I should at least hear him out. I mean, he's going through all this trouble, right? I go through my music and put on Lion by Hollywood Undead and put it on replay.

"Annabeth, are you going to actually listen to my explanations and pleas or is this all just going to be pointless banter on my part?" he asks as we start to fight.

For the first time since I saw him with Rachel, I look him straight in the eyes. He takes that as a yes and continues with his explanation, "It honest to gods wasn't my fault. Rachel came on to me, not the other way around. You have to believe me. You know that I wouldn't betray you like that."

He goes on for another couple of minutes about how he would never betray me or break my trust since he worked so hard to gain it, yadda, yadda, yadda. But, what he says next totally pushes my limits. He manages to hit every single button at the same time. I can't believe he says it.

"I would never betray you and break your trust like Luke did," he says.

I get pissed beyond pissed. He realizes what he'd said right after he says it, but it's too late. I'm no longer in total control of my actions. I'm not sure whether I actually meant what I do next, but, subconsciously, I think I do. I take my dagger and stab him in the stomach. I don't think much of it because he's invincible, so I just walk out of the arena after it happens.

Chapter 2

**Annabeth POV**

I barge into Silena's cabin like I own the damn place. Her expression reads scared, so she must see how I look. I hope I look like I feel. A.K.A pissed off. She starts to back up, but eventually she hits the wall.

"Annabeth, what is wrong?" she asks me.

"Oh like you don't fucking know!?" I yell at her. Just the sight of her right now is making me angrier. I pull my knife to her throat.

"I'm honestly drawing a blank here. And it's not even one of those cutesy 'Aprhrodite flirty' blanks. It's an honest to gods blank. Like failing a test!" she says in a pleading fashion.

"Okay, (a) I would never fail a test, so I don't know what that's like. Let's see, (b) I know what you did!"

"Enlighten me, Annabeth. What the Hades did I do?" she asks with all seriousness.

"You really don't know, do you?" I ask her, looking her dead in the eye.

"No, I really don't."

"Oh, then, um, never mind," I say, pulling the knife away from her throat.

"Kind of hard to after that flip out. Seriously, what is up with you? First you don't show up for curfew last night and now you come in here screaming at me, pulling a gods damned knife on me."

"Who else noticed that I didn't show up for curfew?"

"Pretty much everyone did. Percy," she starts. I flinch at the mentioning of his name, "Noticed first, then he pretty much told everyone to be on Annabeth lookout. And what was with that flinch I saw when I said his name?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I doubt your mother would let you miss out on something like this…" I say, trailing off. "I really don't want to talk about it, personally."

"Okay…"

"Well, I'll see you later, Silena."

"Yeah, later."

I exit the Aphrodite cabin and glance down at my watch. I'm surprised to see that it is already one thirty. But, then again, that shouldn't shock me since I slept until nearly noon. I have missed breakfast and lunch. That okay, though, since I'm really not all that hungry. I have a feeling that after seeing what I saw last night, I won't be hungry for a while. Tends to be that way when I'm depressed and pissed off beyond belief. Nevertheless, I make my way towards the arena where Percy told me to meet his cheating ass that I am, without a doubt, going to kick to Hades.

When I get there, I see him sitting on the bleachers, waiting for me. He looks rather upset, perhaps feeling guilty about what he has done. In no way shape or form does he look ready to fight. I pull out my knife and he looks up, surprised. He raises an eyebrow as I gesture towards the center of the arena.

"Come on, Jackson. Get off your ass and let's fight. That's what I came here to do. You can talk and fight at the same time, or for your sake, I hope you can."

He gets up off the bleachers and takes out Riptide. I know that you may think that sword against dagger is probably an unfair fight, but you're wrong. I've been fighting with this dagger longer than Percy has known that he's a Half-Blood. He goes to pick up a shield and notices that I don't have one. He tries to hand it to me, but I deny it.

"Fine," he says, "I won't use one either then."

"Whatever," I say, putting in an ear bud. I always practice with music, but since Percy is going to be talking and explaining, I figure that I should at least hear him out. I mean, he's going through all this trouble, right? I go through my music and put on Lion by Hollywood Undead and put it on replay.

"Annabeth, are you going to actually listen to my explanations and pleas or is this all just going to be pointless banter on my part?" he asks as we start to fight.

For the first time since I saw him with Rachel, I look him straight in the eyes. He takes that as a yes and continues with his explanation, "It honest to gods wasn't my fault. Rachel came on to me, not the other way around. You have to believe me. You know that I wouldn't betray you like that."

He goes on for another couple of minutes about how he would never betray me or break my trust since he worked so hard to gain it, yadda, yadda, yadda. But, what he says next totally pushes my limits. He manages to hit every single button at the same time. I can't believe he says it.

"I would never betray you and break your trust like Luke did," he says.

I get pissed beyond pissed. He realizes what he'd said right after he says it, but it's too late. I'm no longer in total control of my actions. I'm not sure whether I actually meant what I do next, but, subconsciously, I think I do. I take my dagger and stab him in the stomach. I don't think much of it because he's invincible, so I just walk out of the arena after it happens.

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**Percy POV**

"I would never betray you and break your trust like Luke did."

I don't realize that what I just said has more of an impact on her emotions than I thought at the time of speaking. I stutter to try to apologize, but she acts before I get a chance to fully apologize. She stabs me in the stomach and since I'm invincible, I don't feel it, but I see a little blood. I know it's not fatal since she didn't stab me in the small of my back which is my Achilles Heel. She walks out of the arena, however, like nothing even happened. I sit down on the arena floor and just watch her wander off in wonder.

Grover comes in the arena just as Annabeth leaves. I see him look at her dagger which, naturally, has some blood on it. His eyes widen and it makes me laugh a little bit. He runs in the arena and sees that it was my blood on her dagger. Grover knows that I'm invincible, so he gets a little relieved that it was me she stabbed.

"So, what did you do this time, Perce?"

"Well, yesterday, she walked into my cabin and saw Rachel kissing me-" I start, but get cut off.

"You were kissing Rachel?!"

"No. She was kissing me! She came onto me, not the other way around."

"Okay…"

"Yeah, so I saw her coming out of the woods this morning and I told her to meet me here this afternoon so we could talk. She wanted to fight, so naturally we did. She didn't want a shield so I didn't fight with one either. And, you know, I may have accidently said 'I would never betray you and break your trust like Luke did' which may have led to her stabbing me. But, she obviously didn't stab to kill because she knows where my weak spot is and she would have stabbed me there if she wanted me dead. I think this was just her blowing off some steam."

"Well better she stabs you than someone else," he admits.

"Geez, thanks, G-man."

"You know what I mean! You're the only one with invincibility. Anybody else would be dead my now."

"Yeah, lucky me. I get to be Anna's stabbing dummy."

"She looked pretty upset when she left, though. Not the look I would have if I just blew off a lot of steam and stabbed someone I wasn't particularly fond of at the moment."

"Well, it could have to do with my Luke reference. I don't even know why I said it."

"Because you're… How does she phrase it? A 'Seaweed Brain'?"

"Yeah… Don't call me that, Grover. It just sounds too fucking weird."

"Agreed," he says as we stand up and walk out of the arena. Hopefully I see Annabeth at dinner tonight, so I can try to make her understand what actually happened.


	3. The Bitch, Herself

**I'm back, bitches 3. I only have three reviews. It's kind of upsetting, but completely understandable. I was really looking forward to more negative reviews :( oh well. I love the three reviews what I got, despite what they say. This chapter probably won't make too much sense, so feel free to call me out on that. I don't give a shit. Review with any questions, comments, or whatever may have you. **

**Percabeth02: Hi, love. Haha, I often think of what you and TheAvidReader look like in person, too. I do think we could be amazing friends, though. Like, for real. And yes, what Percy said was 100% true. I just felt like Annabeth had to hear it and stuff, ya know? And let the record show that I am rather country. I live and breathe country music. (Until I go into my depressed stages, that is. Then, I only listen to rock, metal, screamo, and things of that nature). I'm looking forward to your review to this chapter.**

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Chapter 3

**Annabeth POV**

I walk out of the arena feeling like a total boss. I have to admit, I do feel a little bit better, but that doesn't excuse what Percy did. He had no right to bring Luke up in that conversation in any way, shape, or form. Luke is a grey area in talking subject matter and it's not in Percy's jurisdiction. I feel tears start to leak from my eyes when Grover sees me. He also sees the blood and starts to worry. He hurries into the arena, probably to see who it was that I stabbed.

I make my way to my cabin and pass a couple of other campers on my way. I assume they either see how I look or they see the blood on my knife because nobody tries to come up to talk to me like they normally do. And, to tell the truth, I am kind of okay with that right now. I don't want to talk to anyone or really do anything at all. Normally, when I get pissed, upset, or depressed, I would go to Percy. But, now that he's the problem, who do I go to? I don't have anyone to go to and discuss things with. I don't want to see Percy; Thalia is with the Hunters; And Nico is more Percy's friend than mine. There's nobody for me to go to. I could go to Malcolm since he's the closest thing to an older brother I've got even though he's my younger half-brother. However, if I do that, Malcolm might go ape shit on Percy, which I don't want to happen. Everyone has a choice to make and I guess Rachel is his. That, and if someone goes totally ape shit on him, it will be me.

I enter my cabin and see that nobody's in there. I go to the bathroom and put on something more comfy (i.e shorts and a sweatshirt) and then lie on my bed with my iPod. I browse through my music. I finally decide upon Broken Pieces by Apocalyptica featuring Lacey Sturm. I never see anyone come in or out of the cabin. I never hear anyone talk to me. I lie there staring at the ceiling for two hours without even realizing it. I look at the bedside clock and see that it's six o'clock. It's dinnertime for the rest of the campers, but I am too depressed to eat. I lie there for even longer, until I hear a noise.

I turn off my iPod and get up. I go to open the door, only to see nobody there. I hear the noise again. I proceed to leave the cabin in attempt to follow the sound and locate its origin, curiosity taking the best of me. As I near the edge of the woods, it becomes louder, making it quite evident that that's where this mysterious commotion is coming from. I venture deeper into the woods until I see what's producing this ruckus. That's when I happen upon the love goddess that fucked me over so badly, Aphrodite.

"You."

"Hello, Annabeth, darling," she replies in a sweet voice, portraying her as an innocent person.

"Don't you give me that 'hello, Annabeth, darling' shit. Don't stand there and pretend that you haven't done a thing wrong. You can't just act like you didn't fuck up something you worked so hard on for who knows how many years! Especially when it involves me and Percy," I say, completely losing it.

"Come on, Annabeth. Let's get real here. It was going to end eventually. You think you can have something permanent in your life, dearie? Percy wouldn't stay with you forever."

I take out my knife and start slashing at her. I know, I know. She's immortal, she can't die, and stabbing her won't kill her or do anything at all, really. I don't care. I just have to get it out. I manage to have my knife make contact with her multiple times.

"You know, Aphrodite," I start, "I can really see why Luke betrayed the gods now. I almost wish that I had joined him," I admit, my emotions getting the best of me. This is also the first time I mention Luke's betrayal without crying.

As soon as I say that, however, a big bolt of lightning comes down from the sky. I guess all of the gods were listening in on our spat. Zeus especially, apparently. I scream as a bolt hits me, then everything goes black.

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**Percy POV**

I'm in the dining pavilion when I hear a scream that I immediately recognize. Everyone else hears it, too, though I doubt they recognize whose scream it is. I know that it's Annabeth's. I quickly sprint out of the arena to where I heard the noise. I run to the woods and try to figure out which way to go. I see more lightning pinpointing something, I'm assuming Annabeth, so that's where I go.

I get there and see Annabeth lying on the ground, unconscious. I note that Zeus is still sending lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Annabeth. _He's going to kill her, _I think to myself. I have to do something before the love of my life dies right before my very eyes.

"Zeus, knock it off dammit! You're going to kill her!" I shout towards the sky, hoping against hope that he hears me.

"Give me one reason as to why I shouldn't kill her," he demands as he comes down and appears before me.

"Well, for starters, if you kill her, I won't even think twice before taking you all down. I will throw every last one of you in Tartarus, never to reign again."

His eyes widen. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

"Fine. Have it your way. Have your beloved Annabeth, but you better hurry to the infirmary before she dies. I gave her Hades."

Shit. He's right. If I don't get her there soon, she is more than likely to die. I pick her up bridal-style. I start out of the woods when something catches my eye. Aphrodite. Deep down, I know she has something to do with this, somehow. I glare at her, then continue to run out of the woods. As I exit the woods, I spot Will Solace in the crowd of campers that quickly surrounded the woods, ready for an ambush.

"It's okay, guys. There's no ambush or anything. No actual attack on the camp. Will, come with me. We have to get Annabeth to the infirmary. Fast. Or she's going to die."


	4. Pills and Explanations

**Sorry that I don't update this story regularly, y'all. I've gotten into a really bad habit of doing my math homework :P But, on the bright side, I almost have a 90 in my Algebra II Honours class :) I'm going to try to update once a week. If I don't I sincerely apologize. School has begun consuming my life. After this upcoming week, I should definitely be back to regular updates because I go back to the Junior High School in my town and help them with the musical and since the performances are this week, it'll be the last week I have to go back and help out. I will probably update a lot during my Spring Break, so prepare for that. **

**joes mama: Glad that you love it! Why do you think that it is better than Happiness? I'm just curious. Like, is it content, grammar improvement, etc? Hope you review this chapter!**

**Percabeth02: I really don't care if they think it sucks haha. I actually encourage people to do that. And, I know of a lot of people who wouldn't like this lol. I'm so sorry to hear about that, sweetie :'( I hope that you all have the strength to get through it. Well, since you can't wait for my next update, here it is! **

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Chapter 4

**Annabeth POV**

I wake up and all I see is black until I blink it out of my eyes. I take note of my surroundings and realize that I'm in the infirmary. I also notice that Percy is pacing back and forth in the room that I was in. I clear my throat and he jerks towards me. He starts to rush over to me and I shoot him a venomous glare. I assume that he doesn't give a shit as he proceeds towards me and hugs me.

"Get. Off," I say very quietly and slowly, to ensure his knowing that I'm still pissed off at him.

He quickly backs away from me and sits in the chair by my infirmary bed. We sit there in kind of an awkward silence. I keep trying to avoid any eye contact whatsoever with Percy, but I don't think that's what he wanted. He just kept trying to make more eye contact with me. I kind of wanted him to just leave my room, but I don't want to be rude or anything. I mean, he did go out of his way to be here probably. But, ugh, I am still so mad at him, and the fight with Aphrodite didn't help one bit! I am just so tired of everything and everyone; I just want to get out of here.

After we sit there in a very awkward silence for what seemed like hours, Will Solace and Chiron come into the room. I don't know how long I've been out, but something tells me that I don't want to know. I am dying to know what day of the week it is, or at least be told how long I was out for. After a few minutes of a silence more awkward than the last, Will finally speaks. And, being a male, he, of course, points out the most obvious thing possible.

"You've finally woken up!"

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know, Sherlock," I say, moodier than intended, but I don't find it to be particularly rude at the moment.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the coma."

"Thank you. Finally, an explanation of some sort. How long was I out?"

"Not too long. Only two days."

"Only?!" I say starting to freak out. Percy puts my hand in his to try to calm me down, which it does, until I remember that I'm pissed at him. I can't believe that he thinks he can go off and cheat on me then act like it never happened and like it wasn't his fault, at least partially.

"That's really not a long time for a coma, if you think about it," he says defending himself, backing up slowly as I make my way out of the infirmary bed.

"Are you saying that I can't think?" I growl at him, starting to get angry.

"Um, no? I'm just saying," he starts, but I cut him off.

"Saying what?" I ask, narrowing my eyes and getting deathly close to him.

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

"I am now."

"Good."

"You can leave whenever," he says backing out of the room slowly.

Percy and Chiron stand there looking at me as if I have gone insane. If they had it their way, they would say I was never sane to begin with, but who are they to judge? Well, I'll admit that I probably shouldn't have blown up at Will like I did, but I had to find a better excuse than being pissed off a Percy to get away from Percy. They took a few cautious steps backwards.

"Seriously, guys, I'm okay. You don't have to back away from me, it's not like I'm going to take off your heads," I say. Percy sighed in relief before I managed to add, "Except for you. You should cower in fear for the rest of your life," pointing at him.

"Well, all right. Annabeth, you're going to have to tell me what happened in the woods with Aphrodite. Based off of what Percy told me about what he saw when he heard you scream, I would say something is not right on Olympus."

"Oh, really? What gave it away, genius?"

"Annabeth! I do not know what has gotten into, but you will knock it off."

"Sorry. Anyways, I heard a noise emanating from somewhere within the woods, but didn't quite know from where exactly, so I did what any of us would have done. I followed it. So, I went into the woods and kept following the sound. I eventually stumbled upon Aphrodite. She and I started… Talking, for lack of a better word. That talking quickly escalated into fighting. Then I said something, that may or may not have been completely out of my jurisdiction, and that's when lightning bolts just started hitting me, one after the other."

"Well, what was it that you said?"

"I may have told her that I could see how Luke turned against them and that I wished I had joined him…" I trail off.

"Come again?" both Percy and Chiron say simultaneously.

"Oh, you guys heard me the first time!"

"We were hoping we were wrong, Annabeth," Percy says.

"But, still, that isn't grounds for Zeus to throw lightning bolts at her. What was it that you and Aphrodite discussed?"

"Nothing in particular," I say, my eyes cutting to Percy.

I think he picked up on what I was communicating, but Chiron didn't. I can't say that I'm surprised; he never picks up on this kind of stuff. He starts going on and on about all this shit nobody cares about. It's at least five minutes before he gets to the core of the conversation.

"…I do think a quest is necessary for the two of you, though."

"What?" I say, hoping I heard him wrong.

"You and Percy are going on a quest, dear. I don't think anyone else will be necessary. Go get your prophecy from Rachel. Good luck," he says and he's out the door, leaving Percy and I in the room, uncomfortably.

"Well, you better go get the prophecy. Wouldn't want to keep your new girlfriend waiting, now would you?" I ask, pushing past him. He grabs my elbow and twirls me around so that we're face to face.

"Would you stop that! Let me explain. Actually, I already did. Do you need me to explain slower?"

"No, I need you to shut up and stop talking to me."

"That's not gonna happen. I have a feeling that you know that. You just have too much goddamn pride."

I fume out of the room. I honestly cannot believe that he just said that to me. Granted, we both knew it was true, but it was still out of line. I blindly walk into my cabin and crash down onto my bed. I shut my eyes momentarily to make everything stop spinning. I don't think it has anything to do with the coma, either. It has to do with pure, straight up anger. It happens more often than it should, but there's not a lot I can do about it. I lie there, crying out of frustration and depression, for what had to be an hour before someone storms into the cabin. I was hoping it was Malcolm, but no. Who else could it be besides the bane of my existence, Percy? I'm hoping he won't notice my red, puffy eyes, but, of course, he does.

"Hey, Annabeth," he starts, then stops suddenly. "Whoa," he exclaims, "you've been crying, haven't you?"

"That's none of your business. Why do you even care?"

"Because, despite of what you may think, I do love you and I haven't done anything wrong."

"You cheat on me and think you have done nothing wrong. That doesn't even begin to make sense."

"I didn't cheat on you. If you would actually hear me out and listen to me for once, you would know what actually happened. But, then again, you may not believe me anyway because you won't fucking admit that you were wrong. I question whether or not you have ever said it since I have met you!"

"There are a lot of things I haven't told you since we met…" I trail off. I don't realize what I had just said until he responds.

"You mean that there are things you haven't told me? After you've told me multiple times that I know everything about you. Our dating terms were no more secrets, Anna! You sat there and lied to me for months. And you think I was the one that betrayed you. Ha."

"Did you ever think that it was because I am absolutely incapable of speaking of it?! That maybe, it's too painful to talk about?!"

"That's why I'm always here for you. Did you ever think of that? That whatever it is, I can handle it and help you through it?" he countered unexpectedly.

"Why is it that big of a deal, Percy?!"

"Because I love you and you need to realize that you can come to me with anything. It's like after all this time, you still don't trust me."

"Well, gee. I wonder why. Let's take a look at the events the past couple of days, shall we?" I ask sarcastically.

"Annabeth! Just tell me what's going on. You don't even know what happened with Rachel. You won't hear me out, though. Why don't you even trust me enough to hear me out? Why don't you trust me enough to tell me what's wrong?"

"Fine. You know what's wrong?! I have clinical depression, Percy! For years now. All those times that I've had to leave training? I had to go take antidepressants. Those pills that you have seen me take for forever now? Antidepressants, Percy. And to be quite honest, our current situation doesn't help me at all," I say, crying, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

"Annabeth - I had no idea," he says, rushing over to comfort me. At that point, I can't take it anymore. I absolutely break down, crying into Percy's shirt, shaking. He wraps his arms around me, shushing me. Three minutes after that, Malcolm comes into the cabin. He sees Percy trying to calm me down and then sees what's wrong with me. He rushes into my nightstand and grabs one of the bottles of pills I have in there. He hands me a pill and the water bottle and I take it, no questions asked.

"I've got it from here, Perce. You can go," says Malcolm.

"No, I'm staying with Annabeth," he protests.

"No you're not, Percy. You add to it, you know. The depression? It's been really bad since I saw you with Rachel. I hope you are thoroughly amused. Go, pack your bag. We leave tonight," I tell him.

This is going to be a very long quest...


	5. Screaming and Plotting

**What's up y'all? Long time, no update. Sorry about that. Spring Break starts on Thursday and I promise that I will try my damnedest to update either daily or every other day (so basically as often as possible.). This is a really short chapter and what I have for where I'm going with Chapter Six probably could have been in this chapter too but whatever. My story. I am going to do whatever the hell I want with it :)**

**Percabeth02: Where'd you go, love? You haven't reviewed my last chapter! haha I was really looking forward to it. Hope you get this update and review 3**

**And, guys... Come on! Review this story please. I need all the criticism you have! Good, bad, angelic, demonic, lovely, evil, all of them! Whatever you can think of. I'm trying to better my writing skills! Well, here's the story, loves. R&R.**

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Chapter 5

**Annabeth POV**

After Percy leaves, Malcolm comes over to me and helps me get up off of the floor. We walk over to my bed and he lies me down on my bed. He sits down next to me and hands me the box of tissues that I keep on my nightstand. I don't normally cry a lot, but when I do breakdown, it's bad. Really bad. Lately, it's been happening so often that Malcolm pretty much has a routine now, comforting me. We've only recently learned to keep tissues next to my bed, though.

"Why did you want Percy to leave so badly..? What did you mean by 'after I saw you with Rachel'? What did he do to you, Annabeth?" he asks me. I feared he would ask these questions, but I can't run now. I walked myself into it.

"It's a really long story, Malcolm. I really don't want to relive it. It was terrible enough the first time."

"I just don't like seeing you like this, sis. And it hurts me even more to know that the one person that made you the happiest is the one making you the most depressed I've ever seen you. I don't think I've seen you this bad since…" he trails off, not wanting to finish that sentence, but I already know where he meant to go.

"Malcolm, I thought we were done talking about that. For good."

"You're right, we are. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring it up again."

"If you truly didn't mean to bring it up, you would have thought it through. Any child of Athena knows that. You brought it up intentionally. You know how I get when this comes up and yet you still bring it up!"

"No, listen, Annabeth-"

"Get out," I say calmly, distantly.

"Anna-"

"GET OUT!" I scream at him.

Reluctantly, he runs out of the cabin, gently closing the door behind him. I turn on my side and close my eyes, trying to focus on something other than emotional pain. I come up with nothing. I lay there until my eyes shut. I dream the most magnificent nightmare one could hope for. Magnificent because it was finally a nightmare that didn't predict what was going happen… Probably. It's a peaceful slumber.

* * *

**Percy POV**

All I can think about is Annabeth and how broken and hurt she looked when I left. I can't stand the thought of me doing that to her. I sit on my bed, looking up at the ceiling just thinking things over. How could I have done that to her? Where did I go wrong? Why won't she listen to what I say? All valid questions, though I fear I will never get my answer. I guess I spoke to soon. Whilst contemplating all of this, Malcolm runs through my door looking like he'd just lost a fight with a Fury.

"Malcolm, what's the matter?" I ask as he's never actually come to me before for help, or for anything come to think of it.

"Annabeth. She got real scary, real fast," he explains.

"Yeah, join the club. At least you don't have to go on a quest with her. I mean, I love her so much, but I don't know how I am going to handle her this time. It's like I have to watch every syllable that comes out of my mouth. She's just so fragile right now; I've never seen her like this. To be honest, it's scary."

"Just, make sure she takes her meds. That's all I've got for you right now. I've never seen her get this bad, Perce. Promise me that you will take care of her on this quest. That's all I ask of you."

"Yeah, okay. The only problem is that she won't listen to me."

"Iris message Thalia. She's Annabeth's best friend. They'd do anything for each other. Thalia is the only one she will listen to in all probability."

"Right. Thalia. Got it. Oh, and Malcolm?"

"Yeah?"

"What did Annabeth do to make you run all the way in here?"

"Let's just say, never bring up Luke when trying to calm her down. It has the opposite effect. She will start screaming. Oh, and let's not forget the throwing things."

"Well, at least there is some correlation between this Annabeth and our Annabeth," I say, laughing.

"That's where you go wrong, Percy. Maybe that's your problem."

"Excuse me?" I ask crossing my arms.

"They're the same girl, Percy. You can't act like she's two completely different people. This is who she is. You can't run and hide from it. Maybe Mother is right. Maybe you don't deserve to be with Annabeth…" he says, trailing off.

"Don't you dare say that. You know that I need her and you sure as hell know that she needs me."

"Says the one that cheated on her!"

"Oh my fucking gods. You Athena kids are all the same, aren't you? You guys will never hear a word I say! Just hear me out. Why on Earth would I cheat on Annabeth? Everybody knows that she is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Why would I want to see her like this when it kills me as much as it does her?" I ask. He doesn't answer right away_. Wow_, I think to myself_, I finally stumped an Athena child. I don't think this has ever happened in the history of the world, a child of Athena being at a loss of words_.

"I never thought of it that way. But, I have seen the way you look and her and the way you still look at her. And, I have to say… I believe you. I do believe you are not at fault, but I cannot make Annabeth think the way I do. You know how stubborn she is more than anyone else at this camp, save maybe Chiron. So, now the question is, how are you gonna get her back?"

Damn. That was a good question. I have absolutely no idea. But, does that stop me from answering like I know what the hell I'm talking about? Hades no.

"The quest. I'll do everything I can. I will get her back. And more importantly, I'll get her back to happy Annabeth. She doesn't deserve to be punished this way. She didn't do anything wrong. But, mark my words, I will have her back by the end of this quest. But first, I think I need to Iris Message Thalia…"

This is going to be possibly the longest quest ever.


	6. Pain, Fear, and Helplessness

**Guess what, y'all? I'm finally on Spring Break. You know what that means! Most likely, daily updates! :) This chapter is probably one of the most abstract chapters you** **will read in this story because I didn't really like where it was going earlier, so I threw in some twists. Hope y'all like it. **

**TheAvidReader: OMG YOU'RE FINALLY BACK! 3 I HAVE BEEN AWAITING THIS MOMENT FOR FOREVER. I could never hate your constructive criticism. Ever. I like Happiness better, too. That's why in this chapter I screwed around with like the whole basis of my story. Hope you like all the twists and turns in this one. I have no idea where I'm taking it from here, but I promise that I'll find somewhere :D. Yeah, I have not been proof-reading these chapters all that much since I'm trying to cram in writing between Algebra II Honors and sleeping lol. I'll try to work on that though. I look nothing like that haha. Guess again. I picture you with long, brown, wavy hair. Don't ask me why, that's just the image I get haha. If we didn't live in different states we would probably be BFF's lol. I hope you like this chapter better than the last five. **

**lovinbooks10: Glad you love this. Hope you still love it after this chapter.. Speaking of which...**

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Chapter 6

**Annabeth POV**

"Annabeth! Annabeth! Get up. Come on. Let's go. Get up, dammit!" I vaguely hear Thalia yell through my ear buds. _Wait a second. Thalia?, _I think to myself. _Nah, I have to be dreaming. _Too bad I'm not because next thing I know, I'm on the floor of my cabin. I roll over onto my back to see who the bitch is. For the first time in the past three days, I felt truly happy.

"Thalia!" I scream, pulling her into a hug. However, halfway through the hug, I start to back away slowly. "Wait, why are you here?"

"Geez, Annabeth. It's good to see you, too. Love you."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, you never come here unless there is either a problem with Olympus or something is majorly wrong in general. Why did you come here? Artemis almost never gives you permission to leave. It must be pretty damn good for you to show up here and push me out of my own bed."

"Everything is fine on Olympus. Nothing that you don't know about, anyways."

"Then why are you here?"

"Percy called me here. He told me what happened. And before you start accusing me of taking sides, I want to hear your side. So tell me what happened."

"Well, I was coming from the Aphrodite cabin because Silena is the most impossible person ever, and I walked into Percy's cabin without knocking since I stopped knocking long ago, and when I opened the door Percy was making out with Red. It's not like there is a lot to it."

"And you didn't grow suspicious of why Percy would do that?"

"No. It's not like he would be the first one to betray me and break my trust."

"Annie, you mean the world to him just as he means the world to you. I know that deep down, hopefully not too deep down, you know he's not at fault. I love you to bits and pieces, but you are wrong, Annabeth. And the worst part for you is, you know that I'm right. What will it take for you to forgive Percy and believe us?"

"I don't know. I'm still beyond pissed off at him. I don't know when I'll forgive him, if I do ever forgive him."

"Do you still love him?"

"I don't know why you're asking me. After all, I'm not the one who cheated."

"Oh, for gods' sakes, Annabeth! He didn't fucking cheat on you!"

I don't really know what happens next, but I lose all control of my own brain. It's like I know what I am doing, but I am not in control of my decisions. I start screaming and crying as if someone was literally ripping my heart out, and it physically felt like someone was for some reason.

"Shit," Thalia says, running towards the door. She leans out the door and finds the nearest camper. "Travis, go get Chiron. Now!" she screams at him. She comes over to me hurriedly and tries to sit me down. She puts her arms around me and tries to comfort me when I refuse, until I collapse on the floor.

* * *

**Percy POV**

As Malcolm opens the door, we hear the pitter patter of Chiron's hooves galloping the camp. We rush outside to see what all of the commotion is about. He goes into the Athena cabin and Malcolm sprints towards his cabin. The only thing I can think is _I hope Annabeth is okay_. I follow Malcolm's suit, except Thalia prevents me from entering the cabin.

"Thalia! Let me in. What happened?" I asked worriedly.

"Nothing. I can't let you go in. Malcolm gets to go in because it's his half-sister. You have no permanent, pertinent relationship with Annabeth, therefore I can't let you through," she tries explaining to me.

"No, Thalia," we hear Chiron yell from inside the Athena cabin. "Let him in. I need him in here. He can carry her."

I rush into the cabin, pretty much dragging Thalia with me. The image I see before me… Well, I don't know what to make of it. Annabeth is lying on floor as if she has simply fainted, however, I know better. I don't know exactly what happened, but I sure as Hades know that she didn't simply faint; it's never that simple, especially with Annabeth.

"Chiron, Thalia, what happened?"

"You mean you don't know?" Chiron asks me.

"Would I be asking if I did, sir?"

"Let's get her to the Big House before she regains consciousness again. Thalia, tell Will code black," he says. Thalia then proceeds to go over to Annabeth's nightstand and grab a walkie-talkie. "Will," she speaks into it, "code black. I repeat, code black."

"What's a code black?"

"We'll explain later. We're losing time, Perce. Let's take her to the infirmary."

I pick up Annabeth bridal-style and we rush out of the Athena cabin. When we get into the Big House, Will meets us at the door. He tells us to go to the back and Thalia apparently knows exactly what he had been talking about as she leads me straight to the back into a room that looked like nobody ever went into it. Will follows us into the room and I lay Annabeth down on the bed. He takes restraints and fits them to her. I'm now more confused than ever.

"Thalia, why the fuck is he putting restraints on Anna?" I ask.

"He doesn't know?" Will asks. Thalia shakes her head, to which he responds simply, "Ironic."

"Look, Percy. There is a lot that you don't know about Annabeth. There are some excellent reasons as to why she didn't tell them to you. The main one being that she didn't have to. All of the circumstances changed when you came into the game. I guess I'll do her bidding for her. What do you want explained first?"

"Well let's start with the most obvious. The restraints. Why does she need to be put in restraints? I'm guessing it has to do with code black. Which is…?"

"Okay, well code black is for when Annabeth goes mad. She pretty much loses all control of her actions; it's like someone else is temporarily in control of her brain. And the screaming, you should have heard the screaming, Percy. And the pain that you could literally see in her eyes, no pun intended. Every time she gets like this… It's like all of her pain and agony that builds up over time finally erupts like a volcano. She needs the restraints so she doesn't hurt anyone or herself. You should have seen her before you came along. I mean, like, before you guys got all serious and shit. She was a mess. Messier than she is right now. Compared to how she used to be, she is pretty damn put together right now. I remember how much she cut herself. Sometimes it was like her arms were completely made of scars and dried blood. Anyways, back to the restraints, that's so she doesn't escape. Her pain is just so abundant, so real. You changed her, Percy. She stopped all of that when you guys started dating. She felt like she had someone there for her, something permanent. She felt alive, like she had a reason to live again."

"What made her like this?"

"You ask it as if there is only one factor. The shorter list would be what didn't and doesn't make her like this. However, that is for her to tell you, not me. Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you about any of it. Did you ever think that maybe it's too painful for her to talk about or even have to think about? That's why everyone, especially Chiron and myself, were so relieved when you two started dating. Because, then, she didn't have to think about the past. All she had to do was concentrate on the now."

"So how did she end back up like this now?"

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, Perce, she isn't too thrilled with you right now. I almost think she purposely did this to herself. After all of these years, she's probably figured out how to go insane all on her own, on purpose. You should've heard how she feels about you now, one of the main contributors of this," Thalia says, gesturing towards Annabeth, making me feel even worse about what happened.

"Thalia, I told the truth, you know that. You know that I didn't cheat on her. I thought that you were going to tell her and explain things since she wouldn't listen to me! Look what happened! I don't want to see her like this. Especially not because of me."

"You think the rest of us get a kick out of this, Perseus?!"

"No! That's not what I was saying at all. I was just trying to say that you talking to her obviously didn't work," I say trying to defend myself, despite the fact that I know I will never win when it comes to Thalia.

"So now you're saying that it's my fault she's like this right now?" she asks, thunder booming outside. And, on that note, Chiron comes trotting into the room.

"Thalia, calm down. No need to overreact about something so petty. Plus, odds are the boy is right. Odds are that your talking with Annabeth didn't work; it didn't help her. And more importantly to him, it didn't help him; she didn't forgive him or anything."

We hear Annabeth start to wake up. I start to go towards the bed, but both Chiron and Thalia hold me back. At first, I don't understand why I couldn't go over to her, but then, as soon as she regains consciousness, I get it. She bolts up, or tries to at least, and looks around the room furiously, murderously. She looks down and sees the restraints she was put in and screams a scream full of fear, pain.

"Get me out of here!" she screams at us. She wiggles around, trying to get out of the restraints. And, let's just say that if I didn't believe Thals before about Annabeth going mad, I do now. The weird thing is though, after she starts trying to get out, the expression in her eyes changes. It's as if her eyes are literally saying "help"; like she's trapped inside of herself. I've never seen anything like it before in my life.

Will Solace comes into the room and tries to get Annabeth to calm down, to relax. However, it doesn't work. He goes into the cupboard and takes out a shot of some sort. I haven't a clue as to what it is or what it does, but by the sounds of it, it was supposed to get her to calm down. I'm assuming that the shot isn't a good thing either.

"Oh, good gods. Not the shot…" I hear Thalia say from under her breath.

"Sorry, Thalia. You know that I hate to do that. You know the routine from here. Call me if you need me," Will says as he walks through the door. I stand there more confused than ever before.

"Thalia, what's the shot?"

"It's a tranquilizer, pretty much. It will temporarily make her loopy as all get out, but it calms her down. However, it doesn't last long."

"Then what's the point?"

"To give us time and to stop the goddam screaming."

"Well what's the routine?"

"I just pretty much have to calm her down once the tranquilizer wears off. But that's only if she wakes up still loco. Sometimes she'll wake up okay, but she won't remember anything that brought her here. I hope this is one of those times. I really don't feel like having to calm her crazy ass down."

"When you say she'll forget the things that brought her here, would that include the Rachel thing?"

"If you're not guilty of cheating, then why would it be so important for her to forget it ever happened?"

"I'm not guilty. However, I do feel like it would be easier if she were to forget it happened. That way we could just go back to the way things used to be."

"Don't we wish…"

Annabeth starts to awaken once again, but without all of the screaming and thrusting this time. Thalia sighs in relief and goes over to her best friend, grabbing her hand. Annabeth's eyes cut to me. And for a second, I don't know whether or not it's a murderous cut or a questioning cut. I figure out it's a murderous one.

"What's he doing here, Thalia?"

"He carried you here, Annie. He's one of the reasons you aren't dead this time around."

"Why would he care? He hates me and the feeling is mutual."

"Percy, why don't you step outside for a moment?" Thalia asks me.

I follow her orders and leave the room. While waiting for her to come back out, I start to notice something I probably should have seen before. This door had "Annabeth" written on it as if it were her own room. Then, I thought about it. It makes sense for what she goes through. She should have her own room in the Big House. She deserves it. Nobody should have to go through what she does. She probably comes here so often that they thought "eh, what the hell. The room's hers. She's in it all the time anyway".

"Okay, Percy. We have a problem…" Thalia says, stepping into the hallway.

"And that is?"

"She has no recollection of dating you, ever. Things will never be the same now, Percy. You've got to get her back. You may be able to fight the Titan War and win under pressure, but I think you're gonna fuck up this relationship with Annabeth now that you are pressured. So, do me a favour?"

"What?"

"Prove me wrong."

Great, so now during this quest, I have to find out what in Hades is wrong with Aphrodite AND make Annabeth fall in love with me again. Shit. I am so screwed.


	7. Flooding Back

**I worked so hard on this chapter, guys. Understand that. That's why this took so long for the update. I won't update tomorrow since I have a completely full schedule. If I do manage to update, it won't be until like at least 11:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. Sorry to keep y'all waiting. My apologies for the stupid prophecy I came up with for this chapter. I'm aware that it's ridiculously idiotic. **

**lovinbooks10: Glad you love it. Hope you still love it after this chapter that makes little to no sense at all. **

**Percabeth02: It's okay. It was for a good reason. I will always accept sports as a good reason for a delayed review. And you have the description partially right. Keep guessing (;**

**TheAvidReader: I'm gonna assume you're still grounded/blocked from FanFic. Where's your regular check in? Thought you pinky swore on food? haha pinky swears are some serious shit, girl. Hope you're here for this chapter**

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Chapter 7

**Annabeth POV**

Thalia walks back into the room with Percy, probably after telling him that I don't remember all that much about him. According to her, and him, he and I were dating. I don't really remember anything of him besides the fact that I think we hate each other. Or at least that's what I assume since I am a daughter of Athena and he is a son of Poseidon and it would only make sense that we don't get along.

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy greets me.

"Uh, hi," I greet back, unsure of what to say.

"Annabeth, what exactly do you remember?" Thalia asks straight up. Honesty, I respect that. That's why we're best friends; that much I remember.

"Well, I mean, I remember everything except actually dating Percy. I guess I can kind of recall having feelings towards him. Positive ones. I mean, sure, maybe at one point it was more than that. I just can't remember it. I know that there are still feelings for him deep down inside of me, but there's also something telling me that I shouldn't trust him," I admit. As I say the last part, however, I see Percy's face fall. "Guys, if you know anything, can fill in any gaps, please tell me. What am I missing?"

They exchange weird glances that I don't quite know the meaning of. I'd like to think that Thalia will fill in all of the gaps and things, but something tells me otherwise. I would have asked how I ended up here, but unlike all of the other times, I sort of remember why I am here. As if reading my mind, Thalia asks, "Do you remember why you are here, Annabeth?"

"Well, I know that I've been in here enough times to know that I've had one of my episodes. I know that this particular one has to do with Percy. So will either one of you care to tell me? What. Fucking. Happened?" I ask, pissed off. I hate not knowing things. Damn these episodes.

"Annabeth calm down. It's just gonna make what you hear worse," Percy says.

"Thalia, tell me what happened or I swear to gods that I will take your own lightning bolt and shove it so far up your ass that every time you yawn, lightning shoots out your mouth."

"Wow. That was original, a little overboard, but original nonetheless. I respect that," she says, looking impressed. Percy, on the other hand, look a little frightened.

"Thalia…," I say warningly.

"All right, all right. Well, Percy and you were dating. It was all good until, for some unknown reason, Rachel started sucking face with him. You walked in on it and got really pissed. That's when you started down spiraling and you fell so hard that you had one of your episodes. But, before you get pissed a Perce again, please know that it wasn't his fault. Rachel initiated it. If you don't believe him, believe me. You have to believe me. When have I ever led you astray?"

"Gods, I hope that's a rhetorical question," I respond jokingly. "However, that does explain why in the back of my mind, I'm telling myself not to trust him. I'd like to believe you, Thalia, I really would, but I just don't know this time. On the other hand, Rachel is the Oracle. It's not like she can even have a boyfriend, so what would be the point in trying to steal mine?"

"Why didn't that pop into your head when I was trying to get you to hear me out the other day?" Percy asks, to which I respond with the most heinous glare. It doesn't seem to affect him this time though. "Gods, Anna. You are so fucking difficult sometimes. Too much of the damn pride you inherited from your mother. You can never admit that you're wrong, can you?"

"Percy, thi-," I stop mid word. I pull my hand up to my head, grabbing it in agony. It was as if everything was being filled back in at once. I start silently screaming in pain. Will comes into the room just as it starts.

"Will, what's going on?" asks Percy, rushing over to my side.

"Mental overload. What she doesn't remember is now coming back to her, all at once. Typically, it could really hurt someone, but being a daughter of Athena, she can handle it."

After about forty five seconds of pure agony, the pain dies down. I look up and look at Percy. At first I don't know what to say. I don't know if I should be thankful that he brought me here or hate him because he's the reason that I'm here in the first place. I mean, I should be both hateful and grateful, but I don't want to admit I'm wrong. I am never wrong. Except this time.

"You," I say to Percy. "You backstabbing bastard."

"Annabeth, you just said-," he starts, but I cut him off.

"Hey! Let me finish. Thank you," I say sincerely. "Thank you for bringing me here. For not letting go of me, despite how desperately I tried to make you. I guess I really needed you this time, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess you did, Wise Girl."

Gods, it's been a while since I heard him call me that. I miss it. I miss him. I stare at him for a minute, my eyes trailing up and down his body. I look at his lips, wanting so badly to kiss him, to feel his touch. But I then remember what happened, what brought me here.

"Let's just make sure it never happens again," I say sadly.

"What do you mean?" Percy asks, concerned.

"Look, Percy. I know what I said a few minutes ago, but to me, that doesn't excuse what has happened. I need to think about it, okay? And it doesn't make what happened just go away, ya know? I can't look at you without seeing you with Rachel. I just… I don't know if I can trust you anymore. Not everything can go back to the way it was before. I'm sorry, Percy."

"Annabeth, listen to me. I did not cheat on you. I could never cheat on you. Think about it Annabeth, why would I want to get rid of the one thing in my life that makes me truly, absolutely happy?"

"Percy, can we just drop it right now? Please?" I ask. He sighs, which I take as a yes and continue, "So what did the prophecy say anyway?"

He hands me a piece of paper.

"Uh, Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't really take it with these gods damned restraints. Will somebody, anybody, take them the hell off of me?!"

"Sure," he says laughing.

I take the paper that I can barely read due to his incredibly sloppy handwriting. _Boys_, I think to myself, _will they ever learn to write legibly?_However, I still manage to read it since I've been friends with Percy for gods know how long.

_Two lovers' quarrel _

_Will be the start of it all_

_You seek a missing goddess consumed by drama and love_

_And explanations from her from up above_

_In a cave she will once again fall_

_For true love prevails through all_

_For things to go to the before way_

_Titanium will save the day_

After reading it a few times, I figure some things out. I have a feeling that Percy may know them too, but you never know with this fucktard.

"Okay, so we already know the two lovers' quarrel part. I'm not really sure what it started, but whatever. I'll figure it out sooner or later. We know that we're looking for Aphrodite, goddess of love, but she's not missing… What in Hades does that mean?"

"I'm sure we'll find out, Annabeth. We always do," Percy says reassuringly.

I nod and continue, "We definitely seek explanations, or I do at least. And all the rest means absolutely nothing to me at the moment."

"At least we know something."

"I guess."

"We at least know where to start."

"Or at least you do…"

"Mount Olympus. Duh. Come on, Wise Girl. You're really slowing down now aren't you?" he asks jokingly.

I sigh. Duh, that would make sense. He's right. I am slowing down. Well, in my defense I did just have one of my episodes. It's not entirely my fault.

"All right. We'll leave in thirty minutes."

"Okay," he says as he walks out the door.

"Wait, Percy!" I call, but to no avail. That's when I realize Thalia is still in the room.

"Thalia!"

"Huh, what, yeah?" she says, startled since I just woke her snoozing ass up.

"Can you, uh, undo the rest of the restraints? Percy only got to the hand ones."

"Yeah, sure."

She walks over to the cabinets, opens one of them, and searches around for a moment. She presses something and all of the restraints come undone.

"Really? A button? A fucking button? It's that easy?!" I yell at her.

"Uh, yeah. You act like we have the brains to have something more complicated that you won't figure out. But I suppose we have to change that now, huh?"

"Ugh, whatever. I have to leave in a half hour. I don't have time to argue this. Come on, you can come help me figure out where the hell I threw it in my fit."

Much to my surprise, when I got back to the Athena cabin, it was perfect; it was as if I never even had an episode. I look around and easily find my bag sitting on my bed. Everything is back where it should be. _It was definitely Malcolm, I should thank him when I get back from this gods forsaken quest_, I think to myself. I grab my bag and make my way down Half-Blood Hill to meet Percy. Gods, I hope this quest is simple.


	8. Missing Goddess

**What's up?! Finally updating. Wrote pretty much this whole chapter between 11 P.M. and 1 A.M. ET. So, my apologies for whatever cruddy grammar or spelling may occur in this chapter. Short chapter so enjoy.**

**TheAvidReader: I never did my Bio homework anyway, be it because of FanFiction or not lol! And you definitely are NOT a midtown reviewer. You and Percabeth02 are the best. You guys stuck through me pretty much all through Happiness and now for some reason you're coming back for this one. That is a great life lesson. I'll try to maybe to an action piece, but I'm not sure. I don't even really like action movies and books, so it's gonna be more difficult than it already would be! I do not celebrate Easter (no, you did not offend me by asking how mine was or that you assumed that I celebrate it. I had family members ask me how mine was too. You have no idea how awkward and weird it is to be the only Atheist in your whole entire family. I pissed off my mom by saying that I believe in the Greek Gods more than I believe in her God. p.s i hope i didn't offend you with that. that may have been going too far. I can never tell. my apologies) I would love to relive my childhood and watch those shows. I loved them. I have a feeling that we would be phenomenal friends if we actually knew each other. And back to the 'guess what we look like' thing: i picture you with shoulder length brunette hair and about 5'6. Am I close? haha**

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Chapter 8

**Percy POV**

I wait at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill for Annabeth near the car for a few minutes. You see, since we are old enough to drive, Chiron doesn't require Argos to take us everywhere. Anyways, I already have all of my stuff packed and ready to go. She probably has to clean up the mess she made of her cabin. It kills me to see her in this much pain, but I don't know what to do about it. I doubt there is much I can do about it.

Five minutes later, Annabeth shows up looking quite disheveled. I want so badly to ask her what's wrong, but I fear the answer is me. After seeing what she goes through, what she puts herself through; I feel the need to know more about why. I feel like I should already know why she is like this since I know virtually everything about her. Maybe there's more than it seems to all of the things she has told me…

"Come on, let's go; let's get this over with," she mumbles and climbs into the passenger's seat.

As soon as I start the car, Annabeth puts in her ear buds and starts going through the music on her iPod. She finally settles for making a new playlist. You see, absolutely nobody knows what's on each of her playlists because she just simply gives each playlist the title of a number. If you randomly picked up her iPod, all you would see under 'playlists' is a bunch of numbers that mean nothing to you, give nothing away to you, but to her they probably mean something and she knows exactly what is on each playlist. However, I do manage to see what artists she puts in this playlist: Dead By April, Hollywood Undead, Three Days Grace, Skillet, and Apocalyptica. Bands that I have barely even heard of; Thalia may have mentioned them before since some of them sounded familiar, but I have never actually listened to any of their songs or anything. I have a feeling that it wasn't my style.

Looking at the artists that she chose, I can tell how she was feeling. Those aren't the usual artists she listens to. Normally she will listen to country music, her favourite genre. Most of her music on her iPod consists of artists such as Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert (her personal favourite for the upbeat feminism or something like that), and Rascal Flatts. Occasionally, she'll get in the mood for rap music (yes, it comes in moods, don't ask) so she has some Eminem, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, 50 cent, and Wiz Khalifa. And I know what a lot of you are thinking: what? No pop music? She does have pop music; she doesn't really listen to it, though. She reserves that for when she's hanging out with friends and they really only listen to pop. Look at me; I'm rambling on about her favourite music… gods, I'm still pathetically in love with her.

Annabeth is playing her music so loud that I can hear it too, despite the fact that her ear buds are completely in her ears. This music is some seriously depressing shit too. I can hear the screamo parts of the Dead By April songs and I can't take it anymore.

"Annabeth, what the Hades are you listening to?" I ask, not meaning for it to come out as rudely as it did.

She lets out a big sigh, "It's not any of your business what I listen to, Jackson." _Oh, we're only using last names now? I can play that game, too,_ I think to myself.

"Yes, it is, Chase."

"How the Hades do you figure that?" she spat at me.

"Annabeth, I know you better than anybody else at camp, save maybe Chiron. But, I bet I know more about you than he does, too. I know that the music that you are playing right now isn't the music you always listen to; it's not the music that my Annabeth listens to."

"Okay, one, I do listen to this music. Quite often, actually, not that you would notice since you don't seem to notice what right in front of you. Unless it's Rachel, apparently. And, two, even when we were dating I was never yours. I'm not an object that one can possess. I'm a human being."

"I realize that. My point is you're not the same person."

"I'm the same person, just a different side," she practically whispers.

"Annabeth, were you or are you scared of me seeing this side of you?"

"I… I don't really know. I just know that I couldn't tell you."

"You told me everything else. Why not this?"

"You thought that I left myself open to you, Percy. Didn't you?" she pauses and I nod. "Well, you didn't know I was already broken. I figured that it wouldn't be so bad to tell you, I thought I could trust you. But, we all make mistakes, right?"

I'm about to totally explode at her when I realize we have arrived at the Empire State Building. We go inside and get the key that will unlock the 600th floor for us. The guy behind the desk has learned to stop asking us to theoretically prove to him we are Half-Bloods. He just hands us the key now. It's pretty awesome. Though, perhaps, I guess that may not be a good thing… But it helped when we were crunched for time.

When we get up to Olympus, we run straight for the gods' Throne Room. When we get there, Aphrodite isn't in there. Nobody is surprised to see us. They hardly are anymore. It just sort of makes me laugh. However, they do give us skeptical looks. Probably as to why we were just running in here like madmen.

"Where's Aphrodite?" Annabeth fumes.

"Where are your manners, Annabeth? Just storming in here demanding to see a goddess. What ever happened to bowing before us, the proper greeting?" Athena asks. Uh-oh. Here we go…

"Does it look like I give a fuck right now? Honestly?" she asks back.

"Annabeth! I am your mother and I will not have you speak to me with such a tone and such an attitude!"

"Or what?! What will you do?! Take away my intelligence? That would only backfire since it would insult you, now wouldn't it?"

"Annabeth, why don't you just calm down, please," I beg her. I seriously don't want to get into any trouble with the gods. We were finally on good terms.

"Why? It's not like I owe you anything!"

"Damn straight, Annabeth. You tell him," her mother chimes in.

"So now you guys are best friends again! Really?" I ask.

Next thing I know all three of us are yelling at each other. "ENOUGH!" Zeus yells. "I will not take any more of this. Percy, if we tell you where she is, will the fighting stop?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Okay, well, we don't know where she is. She's missing. Artemis knows that Aphrodite is somewhere in New York. In a close by cave. Not too terribly far from Camp. We just don't know where exactly."

At that moment, Annabeth and I finally agree on something for the first time since Rachel. It's a though that we share all the time on quests. _Shit._

We start to exit the Throne Room when something pops into my mind. I turn around and Annabeth turns to look at me quizzically. I tell her to go on and she listens (finally. It's about damn time). I walk up to Athena with a plan in mind.

"Lady Athena?"

"What is it this time, Sea Spawn?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with Annabeth. She's been acting so different lately and—"

"Yes, I've noticed that too. What did you do to her, Percy?"

"I don't think I need to explain it to you. You watch over her just as all gods watch over their children. I just need you to maybe talk some sense into her or something. She won't seem to listen to me."

"I will not. You need a plan, a battle plan."

"You were my battle plan…"

"I will not. You know as well as I that trying to talk sense into my daughter is like trying to teach a monkey to breathe underwater. It's not going to work nor will it happen. She has to come to these realizations on her own. And I know what you're thinking. I hate seeing her like this, too, but there's no other way, Perseus. If Thalia couldn't help, I doubt I can."

"You're right. Thank you," I say as I turn to walk away.

"Oh and Perseus?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to tear her apart again. Hurt her one more time and I swear on wisdom that I will force you to do so much math that you will shit equations until you die. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Gee, now I know where Annabeth gets her originality from with all of the threats. I walk out of the Throne Room and go back down to Earth only to find an impatient Annabeth waiting by the car. I unlock the car for her and we get in.

"Well, all we have to do is look in every cave in New York and we will find our goddess," I say, trying to be upbeat and positive.

"Whatever," Annabeth says, rolling her eyes.

This is going to be the longest quest ever. This can only end so well.


	9. Reminiscing Memories and Awkwardness

**Oh my goodness, guys! It's been, like, two weeks since I've updated! I'm so sorry for waiting for so long. Lots of things have happened. I'm babysitting almost everyday and since Final Exams are in one month, all my teachers are cramming so I have a lot of homework and studying to do! But, that is no excuse. I send my deepest, dearest apologies to those who truly enjoy this story. Note: some sort of sexualish scene is in this chapter. Percabeth. Hades yes. **

**Senior Scribe69: Thank you, glad you think it's a good story! Feel free to keep on reading and offer many suggestions, comments, etc.**

**Percabeth02: I will miss you dearly, lovie. You will be forever in my heart as one of the most loyal readers. Hopefully you will see this at some point and remember all of the good times.**

**TheAvidReader: I kind of imagine that too, for that line. Yay, you liked the chapter! And you're close with my description. So close. Let's see.. You're a redhead with either brown or green eyes? For some reason I picture you as either a cheerleader or a runner. **

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Chapter 9

**Annabeth POV**

We ride in silence for an hour or so. I have my ear buds in, thinking. Percy thought that we should go all the way to upstate New York to start looking. I had to admit, his idea had some validity such as there are more caves in upstate as opposed to New York City. However, something just didn't feel right. I felt like we were going in the wrong direction or something, but I had nothing to validate my point, so I didn't bring it up.

I keep thinking about it the whole ride to upstate. I have this nagging feeling that we shouldn't go this way and it's getting to the point where I do not give a single fuck about the validity. Something is up. I sigh and pause my music, taking my ear buds out.

"Percy?" I say, striking conversation.

"Yeah?"

"We're going the wrong way, I think."

"And why do you think that?"

"That's where I'll lose you. More than I already have, anyways," I say, mumbling the last part.

"Huh?"

"Look, I don't really know how I know or how I think that or even why. I just know that I have this very strong, nagging feeling that says we are not going in the right direction. Just… Trust me, Percy. We aren't going the right way. We have to go back towards camp."

"Is it like a gut feeling or like your mother is trying to point you in the right direction?"

"I don't know. I guess a little bit of both."

"Okay, I'll tell you what. We'll go back towards camp after we check in this one village in upstate that I know. We are about a mile out from Tully and we'll go through the woods near the edge of the village. Do we have a deal?"

"Pardon, but, did you just say Tully?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um, nothing."

"Annabeth, I know you better than anyone else. Whenever you say 'um, nothing' that always means there's something. What aren't you telling me this time?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just… It's where I'm from…" I admit to him, letting the 'this time' comment alone.

"You've gotta be shitting me," he says, shocked beyond belief.

"I shit you not, Perce. I was born and raised in Tully. My only question is how the fuck do you know of Tully?"

"I have relatives that live there."

"Who?"

"Danielle—"

"Oh my gods," I say cutting him off before he can even give me a last name, "she's your relative?"

"Yeah, she's a cousin on my mother's side of the family."

"Hah, I should've known from the moment I met you. Your features are so similar. I'm stupid to not have seen it before. The hair colour, similar eyes, though nobody can quite have your eyes, and the attitude. Gods, you guys have such similar attitudes. How did I not see this before?"

"Well, it's not like you were looking for a connection of any sorts between her and I. So, I take it you know her."

"Yeah. We were best friends until we were seven."

"Until you went to Camp."

"Yeah. I could literally hop the fence in my backyard and be in her backyard. It was amazing. But, then again, you could pretty much walk to everyone's house. It's Tully. Everyone knows everyone, so everyone knows where everyone is."

"Yeah, I know. Wait… You were the house behind Dani's?"

"Yeah. The light brownish Victorian next to the blue house."

"Ha-ha yeah. The blue house… Who lives there anyways?"

"Uh, my grandparents do." I answer, starting to get really emotional. I hadn't talked to anyone from Tully in ten years. I hadn't really thought about it. I normally can't handle it. This is why. I reach into my backpack and grab a pill out of one of my bottles and take it. Percy looks at me questioningly, but I dismiss it.

"Anyways, which woods are we going to, Percy?"

"The ones on the outskirts of town, right past those railroad tracks near the tree farm," he says as I stiffen. "What?" he asks, noticing my reaction.

"Just, that farm is some of my old friends' home. We used to go through those woods all the time. Mike, Sarah, Grace, and I would just chill out here all of the time. So open, calm, peaceful, serene."

"You miss it, don't you?"

"More than anything in the world. Mostly."

"What do you miss more?"

I turn to him and look him directly in the eye, hoping that he gets the message. I miss our relationship more that I miss Tully. Not that I would openly say that to him since that would be hinting that I was wrong. And truth be told, thinking about Tully depresses me. Knowing I can never go back to a simpler time.

"Oh," he replies. I don't really know what he means by it, but I can only assume he understands I what I had meant.

I stay silent when we pass the sign telling us we have entered Tully. I had done my best to ignore Tully, but I guess now I can't, right? I should have known that I couldn't avoid it forever. If I was normal I could have, but no. I have to be fucking demigod and run into everything I've been running from. Sometimes I feel like being a demigod truly is a curse instead of a gift.

We turn off of Route 86 and onto Song Lake Xing and drive past my friends' house and it still looks exactly the same. Old memories start to flood into my mind, from the night Mike and I went out a midnight to bounce on their trampoline with him dressed as Elvis (don't ask me why, I don't remember) to the time I beat a caterpillar hive with a stick like a piñata. I had some of the best times of my life here with them. Too bad things could never be like that again.

We get to the woods and get out of the car. I sigh as memories of these woods come into my mind. I remember one time when we went into the woods and we didn't tell their parents, so when their parents went looking for us, they couldn't find us. They almost called the cops to start looking for us. So, I guess our whole 'everyone knows where everyone is at all times' motto really failed us there. But it was a fun time. And Percy is right… There is a cave somewhere in the woods. I just can't remember exactly where.

"You know these woods, don't you Annabeth?" he asks as if he can see me reminiscing my childhood.

"Yeah. I do. There is a cave somewhere in here; I just can't remember its exact location. I had some really good times in these woods."

"I don't wanna know," he says, his hands up in a surrendering position.

"Perce, the last time I was here I was six. What the fuck would two six year olds, a nine year old, and a ten year old do in the woods besides just wander around and explore?"

"Touché."

"Come on," I say, taking his hand and dragging him.

We slowly make our way through the woods. To me, it's reliving old memories and fantasies; walking the woods like I live there, like I have a map to them on the back of my hand. To Percy, however, it's just being dragged into the woods by your crazy ex-girlfriend. While we're walking, I hear voices. We are approaching them, by the sounds of it. As we draw nearer, I start to recognize the voices. Well, three of them at least: Sarah, Grace, and Michael. I stop dead in my tracks and Percy kind of slams into me in a way.

"Anna-" Percy starts to say, but I cut him off.

"Shhhh!" I yell at him, knocking him down to the ground so my old friends don't see us. However, things proceed to get awkward because, well, Percy somehow ended up landing on top of me.

"Well, we haven't been like this in a while," he whispers.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I almost miss it," I whisper back to him, hoping he didn't hear the last part. But, of course he did.

"You do?" he asks, cocking his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but then I remember where your tongue has been that isn't my mouth or yours."

"You know what, Annabeth," he starts, pushing my hands above my head, making it hard and nearly impossible to fight back, "You don't know anything about what happened. You don't believe me when I tell you the truth anymore. I love you, Annabeth. Why can't you trust me? You even said it yourself that there's no way that Rachel and I could ever be together since she's the oracle, so why would she waste it and tease herself?"

I can't take it anymore. His lips are so tempting and I haven't felt there touch in so long. I want to kiss him, I need to kiss him. So, I do. Mainly because I longed for his touch, but partly to shut him up. I can tell I catch him off guard, but soon his tongue is fighting with mine for dominance, our lips moving in perfect sync. In no time, his tongue is exploring my mouth, his hands tracing up and down my body. My hands wrap around his neck and start to dance through his hair.

My first thought after processing all of this: What the fuck am I doing?


	10. True Love Prevails Through All? Maybe?

**Hey y'all. Sorry I've been really shitty at updating lately. Math is a bitch and I have a C which I'm super pissed about. So, I'm not gonna rant much but I must tell you what my math teacher told me the other day. He made an unusual but accurate accusation of me: "It's hard to tell with you, what you're thinking and whether or not you understand. Sometimes you just sit there blankly and actually understand things and all the other times I could hand you a kite with a key attached to it in a lightning storm and tell you to go fly it and you would without hesitation." My only reply (which I so didn't reply, but totally thought) was "then why haven't you brought it up with me? Why make me feel like I'm more invisible and hated than I already am? I would've talked about it with you." My question is for all you out there reading this (and hopefully reviewing and commenting): should I talk to him about that and bring it back up or leave it alone? **

**I am sad to announce that our good friends Percabeth02 and TheAvidReader will no longer be with us reviewing this story. If they're out there and reading this one day, you two should know that I love you to death. Y'all my girls! You will forever be missed.**

**don't judge a book by its cover: The only reason there are fresh ideas each chapter is because each time I write a chapter, I literally just wing it.**

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! Keep it up. You are my motivation. I would like more reviews, opinions, and flames. Nobody has flamed this yet :( I always look forward to those. I guess I did a lot more ranting than I planned and all for one short as fuck, shitty chapter. Well, actually I think it's pretty good, but I'm the writer.. Anyways.. Without further ado..**

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Chapter 10

**Annabeth POV**

There are only two words to describe the sensation tingling through my body right now. Happiness being the first one to pop into my mind. It's been so long since we've kissed or done anything we actually really want to do. Kissing him makes me think back to when I was happiest. However, when I realize that, the feeling of elation is quickly replaced by depression, which will cause an unwanted conversation between us. Unwanted, but rather needed. We ease out of the kiss, him smiling, me frowning.

"Percy, come on. Get up, get off of me," I say, noticing that I no longer hear the voices of Grace, Michael, Sarah, and their two (maybe three) companions.

He follows my orders for once and even helps me up. I decide to act civilly and take his hand to pull myself up. Not much effort is needed on my part due to his abundance of strength. We proceed to start deeper into the woods, looking for a cave, any cave. However we get quite delayed when voices that I don't recognize at all stop us dead in our tracks.

"Well, look what we have here. Could it be the groans that we had heard behind the bushes?" one of the three guys asks.

"I believe so," says another.

"Well, isn't she a pretty one? Guys," says the last one who could easily be mistaken for Luke Castellan if he wasn't dead. He has the same sandy blonde hair, tan skin, everything.

"Who the fuck are you?" I ask in a rather rude fashion.

"I am Lucas, son of Mercury," says the head honcho. You know, that same one who could've been mistaken for Luke. "These are my companions: Ethan, son of Nemesis, and Dakota, son of Bacchus."

"Great. Romans. All right. Let's rephrase the question: what the fuck do you want?" Percy butts in.

"That's easy. We want her," Lucas answers.

"Excuse me?" I ask sassily, crossing my arms and shifting to one hip.

"Yeah, you."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" I ask, reaching for my dagger. Percy steps in front of me, protectively.

"What the Hades are you doing, Percy? I can fight for myself. You know that firsthand," I tell Percy. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the fact that he feels the need to protect me, but I hate that he thinks I need protecting.

"I'm helping you, Annabeth. You know, that thing I've been doing since we were, like, twelve. Believe it or not, I'm not against you."

"I hate to break the moment between you two, but it wouldn't matter if you protect her or not," says Lucas.

"Yeah, and why not?" Percy asks, probably because he thinks his manliness just got questioned.

"Boys, you know what to do."

As soon as Lucas says that, Ethan and Dakota circle me and Percy strategically. At the same time, they both start fighting Percy, leaving me alone. Just as I decide to help Percy, Lucas comes up from behind me. I turn around, face him, and reach for my dagger. However, it is ineffective. As he comes towards me, I back up, but he had the upper hand this time. I backed right up into a tree and he was practically on top of me. He grabs my hands and pushes them up above my head, making it virtually impossible for me to use my knife, so I drop the knife.

"So, he your boyfriend?" asks Lucas.

"Um, no, not exactly," I answer.

"Good. Then this won't be like you cheating on him," he replies, crashing his lips to mine. However, I don't respond. I look to Percy, who is quite busy fighting Ethan and Dakota.

Lucas's lips move away from mine. He moves closer, which I didn't know was possible, and says, "Come on, baby. Let's have a little fun."

He returns his lips to mine, however this time he forces my lips open with his lips and his tongue. He tries to get a response from me, but I remain unmoving. His lips trail down from my lips to my neck. He starts to undo the buttons on my red plaid button up shirt. Damn this shirt. I can feel him grinding up against me. I look over to Percy who is now being held back and forced to watch what Lucas is doing to me.

"Percy, help!" is the only thing I can manage to shout. Lucas slaps me in the face.

"Annabeth!" Percy shouts, "I love Rachel. I never loved you. Everything I've ever said to you is a lie. You are my biggest regret. Especially sleeping with you. And, just for the record, Luke never loved you either. Everybody knows it. My father was right, dating a child of Athena isn't worth all of the trouble."

_Percy, you're a genius. I never thought I would be thankful that you inflict an episode. I just hope Will and Thalia told you how to stop them_, is the last thing that I remember before blacking out.


	11. It Was Kind Of Hot

**I'm back bitches!3. I know I haven't updated in literally a week. Still working on that damn math grade. Despite some of the scenes in this chapter, I actually was in a generally fantastic mood when I wrote this. WARNING: MAJOR PERCABETH IN THIS CHAPTER. AND LEMONS. LOTS OF LEMONS. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Still waiting for reviews and responses, mainly responses to my author's note in the beginning of chapter 10. **

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Chapter 11

**Percy POV**

She is so going to hate me for that when she is recovered. I can't even believe what I have done. I just inflicted an episode upon her, but it was with excellent intention. I just hope she understands. But knowing her, she won't.

She starts going through the first stage: screaming. It's rather ear piercing. Ethan, Dakota, and Lucas are caught completely off guard. I just kind of chuckle to myself, since I am the only one who was ready for it. However, I quit fast since I remember what pain Annabeth has to go through just to save herself… And me.

She starts to just throw random punches at Lucas. It makes me kind of glad that she has this problem, because right now it's our biggest ally. Fortunately, she fighting quite well and showing off moves that I don't think I've ever seen before, not from her anyway. One of the things she does to him makes me laugh so hard: she does multiple over 2 3s in a row, kicking him in the face with each leap. The only reason I know what that is is because I caught her practicing a dance routine of some sort. Trust me when I say I don't dance.

When Lucas's cronies realize how badly he's getting his ass handed to him, they rush over to help him out, but I already knew it wasn't going to work. Annabeth may not know what she's doing exactly, but she is one hell of a fighter. She starts doing all of this weird as hell shit that I guarantee has no actual name or even exist until she eventually knocks all of them out. The only bad part about this now is that she doesn't stop there. At first, I think she's just going to pick up her dagger, but I'm a little off. She does grab it, but only to stab the three in their hearts repeatedly. I rush over to her side and wrestle the bloody dagger out of her red, bloodstained hands. This is when I realize that I can't stop this episode she's having. Shit.

I search through her bag to try to find her medicine, hoping that Will, Thalia, Chiron, or anybody left a note attached to one of the bottles on how to stop one of her fits. Luckily, they thought ahead. Either that or I'm on the gods' good side today. Nonetheless, there was a note in there with instructions.

_Dear Percy,_

_Just in case Annabeth has one of her episodes, you must hold her down and make sure she doesn't do anything incredibly stupid. We had to learn that the hard way. Keep the dagger out of her hands and out of her reach. I suggest that you immediately give her one of the pills in the red bottle. It's pretty much the shot that Will gave her in pill form. When she wakes up, if she is still screaming and pissed off and shit like that, give her a pill from the light blue bottle. Good luck, Percy. _

_~Thalia~_

I do what the note says and take out a pill from the red bottle. But, I guess I forgot to do one little thing Thalia mentioned: keep an eye on Annabeth. I look around and notice that she's not in my line of sight in any direction. Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit. The one thing I had to make absolutely sure that I did, I don't do. Now I get why Annabeth calls me Seaweed Brain all the time and Thalia Kelp Head.

So, I do what any person would do. I go wonder in a random direction after I gather our things to go looking for her. After about half an hour of looking for her, I start to panic. However, it doesn't last long as I finally find her. She's collapsed on the ground and the base of a cliff when I find her. _Oh gods,_ I think to myself, _I hope she literally just collapsed and didn't try to kill herself by jumping off of the cliff._

I run to her aid and check her pulse. Thankfully she still has one, so I can only assume she didn't do the latter. I think back to when she collapsed the first time back at camp. So far, the only way to get her to wake up is for her to wake up on her own. We lay there on the floor of the woods, me waiting for her to wake up. A good three hours pass before she starts to stir.

"Annabeth?" I say as she stirs again. "Annabeth, come on. Just wake up, please," I beg of her.

Her eyes flash open, revealing the brilliant grey colour of her eyes. I start to grab the blue bottle full of pills, ready to give her one. She stops me before my hand even reaches the bag.

"No, Perce. I'm good," she croaks.

"Really, because the last time this happened you woke up screaming and yelling. Not to mention the murderous look agleam in your eyes."

"Yes, but I'm not in restraints and shit this time. That shit fucking sucks. So, what happened this time?" she asks, not able to remember like every time this happens.

"What's the last thing you remember? We'll start from there."

She laughs nervously. "Well, it was you yelling shit. You know 'I never loved you, neither did Luke, everything was a lie,'" she says, mocking my voice.

I laugh heartily while responding, "All right. That's a good starting place. Well, after that, you first started screaming. That seems to be your first stage every time. Luckily for us, you caught them off guard. You started to just beat the shit out of Lucas and then, when the others went to help, you started beating them up pretty badly, too. I mean, you were using moves I've never even seen before. It was kind of hot," I say winking at her.

She laughs and rolls her eyes. "So, where are they now? Did that scare them off or something?"

"Um, no, actually…" I say, hesitating. "You stabbed them to death, Annabeth. Look at your hands, Wise Girl. Your knife."

She looks down and notices the excess of blood covering her. She knows damn well that it's not her own. "Take me to the bodies, Perce. I wanna see my handiwork."

"You are totally unaffected by this, aren't you?" I ask getting up and helping her up as well. "Oh, and Annabeth? You might wanna button up your shirt," I say motioning to her unbuttoned plaid shirt.

"Percy, I've been killing monsters my whole life. I don't see how they were any different. And it's not like you're seeing anything you've never seen before."

I roll my eyes and button up her shirt for her. With each button being buttoned, we got closer and closer to each other. Before I know it, we're making out again. Her arms snake around my neck while mine snake around her waist, holding her so close to me that you probably couldn't even put a piece of paper between us. The touch that I've longed so much for, the touch that I am unaware will ever be felt again from the girl that I love and the same girl that isn't sure she'll ever take me back. Until she says something.

"Percy, never let this happen again," she whispers in between kisses.

**Annabeth POV**

His lips make their way down to my neck. "What do you mean?" he asks in between every kiss.

"Never let anything like that happen again. Never let anyone break us up again. Never leave my side. I love you, Percy," I confess.

"I love you too, Anna."

I groan as his tongue trails up my neck and he nips on my earlobe. Our lips meet again and as it turns out, buttoning the shirt back up was a waste of time. In a matter of seconds, my shirt is off and Percy is on top of me on the forest floor, much like before the Lucas mishap. I take his shirt off of him and run my hands over his perfect abs. He deepens the kiss and holds me closer to him as if that is even possible. We pause for a second to breathe, but not long. Reaching down, he unbuttons my jeans and slides them off of me while I do the same to him. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but Percy has hands of magic if you know what I mean ;). As he slips in, I groan and dig my nails into his back. I couldn't be happier right now, honestly. I've also never been happier to be on birth control. We pull apart for good, panting heavily and lay side by side.

"Whoa," we say at the same time. But not in the 'woah, that was my first time and it was fantastic' kind of way, it is in the 'woah, that was awesome and I missed that' sort of way. Percy and I have had sex before, but neither of us had missed it so much that it was the best sex we've ever had like todays.

"Annabeth, I will never leave you. I will always love you and nobody but you."

"I would hope so after that," I say jokingly. "But seriously, pinky swear?" I ask holding out my pinky.

"I pinky swear on the River Styx."

"Good. So, are you going to go show me the bodies or not?" I ask, starting to put my clothes back on. He does the same.

"Well, I almost don't want to. However, I feel like you're going to make me take you anyways."

"Damn straight."

"Oh my gods, I'm whipped," he says seriously with a hint of jokiness. I punch him of the shoulder, but not like the wimpy friendly punch, the punch that says 'what the fuck is that supposed to mean', ya know?

"Jeez, Annabeth, I'm joking! Sorta."

"You're horrible, Percy. Absolutely horrible," I say as he begins to lead me towards where the bodies are.

"Yeah, and?"

"And I love you."

"I got that, Annabeth," he says, stopping. "Why do you keep saying that over and over again? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love you too and I love hearing you say it, but you never used to say it this much. What's wrong? Why are you saying it so much now?"

"People just don't say it enough, Percy. It's not said enough," I say looking away from him.

"What do you mean, Wise Girl?" he asks, life my head up towards him, so that we are looking into each other's eyes.

"You'll find out soon enough, Perce."

"No, I don't like that tone of voice. Something is up, Annabeth. We both know it. So, tell me now. Please, I want to help," he begs.

Hesitantly, I reach into my bag and pull something out. It's a letter. I hand it over to Percy and he inspects the envelope that I have placed it in. He hands it back to me and I look at him questioningly.

"Read it," he tells me. "I want to actually hear your words, not just read them."

"Dear Percy,

"If you're reading this, then odds are you've found me. Or at least my body. I am so utterly, completely sorry for everything. I'm sorry for lying to you for all this time about my depression and all of that shit. I'm literally sorry for every single thing that I have done to ever upset you, piss you off. I don't know what I ever did to get someone as good as you, Perce. I'm sorry for not exactly being myself lately. Just know that this has nothing to do with you. This is for all the guilt that I feel, all the pain. I'm sorry for everything ending this way. But hey, maybe you could use this change. You deserve someone way better, Percy. I know you do. Please, don't get upset reading this or looking back on the memories. Promise me that you'll look back at us and remember all the happy times, all the sad and loving times. Promise me you'll think of us still bright and colourful. Look back at us as a time you enjoyed. I know I did. You were the best thing that ever happened to me and you always will be. I just can't stand myself and I have no other escape. Please, try to understand. I couldn't find happiness in this world that would actually last. Everything comes to an end and this is mine. Go find your happiness. There's no way I was yours anyways. I love you and I always will. Always. See you when you're dead, which will hopefully be in a very long time.

Your Wise Girl,

Annabeth xx."

By the time I finish reading it to him, I'm full out crying. Not just crying, bawling my eyes out. Finally, my legs gave out and I collapse on the ground.

"Annabeth, what was that?" Percy asked so seriously and concerned that it made me cry harder. He sat down on the ground with me to hold me and let me cry into his shoulder.

"What do you think it was Percy?! It was my suicide note," I say in between sobs.

"Why, Annabeth? Why?"

"You heard why, Percy!"

"Fair enough. But when did you plan to do this? To kill yourself, I mean."

"When we get back to camp, after the quest."

"Annabeth. Why didn't you talk to me? Or Chiron, or Thalia, or anyone?"

"I just… I don't know," I say, ashamed of myself. I start crying even harder.

"I love you so much, Wise Girl. When you die, I'll die too."

"I'm so sorry. But, it's not entirely my fault. I can't control the depression or the anxiety, Percy. It's a part of me and it will always be there."

"Just like me," he says. I look at him questioningly. "I'll always be there, Annabeth. For a thousand years and then a thousand more." By now I have stopped crying and am just leaning into his chest with his arms wrapped around me. "You good now? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, in a technical sense. Come on, I think I remember where that cave is."


	12. That Almost Sounds Intelligent

**Hey guys! It's been over a month since my last update and I feel like a total shit hat about that! Allow me to extend my sincerest apologies to those who actual give a damn. I had finals and then I went to Disney for a week! Finals sucked balls as always and then on the car ride home from Disney I was like ****_hey, let's update that story when we get home you fucktard_****. So I did. Enjoy. Review. Flame. Hate. Love. Whatever.**

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Chapter 12

**Annabeth POV**

I lead Percy through the woods, weaving through fallen twigs and hanging foliage. I know perfectly well where I'm going. Percy though, not so much. Even though we are in absolute darkness as it was around midnight, I know precisely where I was. However, that only makes me stop dead in my tracks.

"What's wrong?" Percy asks.

"We have to wait until morning to go. Around four or five."

"Dare I ask why?"

"If they're the same, the Brills are still up, the kids at least. They stay up all night and crash around three in the morning. Either that or they're partying. Either way they're awake and probably outside. I can't risk being caught, Percy."

"Okay, we'll find somewhere out of their probably path and crash for a few hours."

"Whoa."

"What?"

"That almost sounded intelligent, Seaweed Brain."

"Remind me why I love you?" he asks rolling his eyes

"Who else would you love?" I say in a matter-of-fact manner, crossing my arms, daring him to answer the question.

"Good point," he answers quickly. "So, where do you want to go?"

"About half a mile that way," I say point north east of us, "there should be a cluster of boulders that form a circle and there's only one way in and out of said circle therefore I doubt they would come looking for it. We can camp out there for a few hours."

After ten minutes of walking in silence, the boulders are in view. We scurry over to them and find the entrance to the inside circle. We set up so we're kind of using the boulders of pillows in a weird, uncomfortable sort of way. I start to put on my invisibility cap when Percy puts his hand on my arm.

"Don't. You'll be fine," he tries reassuring me.

"Just a safety precaution. Some of us actually have to hide out here because we're missing."

"Fair enough, I suppose."

"You should get some sleep, Percy."

"I'm fine, Annabeth. Besides, after that letter and finding out about these episode things, I think we have to start with clean slates and have a heart to heart and put everything out on the table. And by everything, I mean everything."

He grabbed my iPod first, entered my password. "Percy? What the fuck?! Why are you going through my music? More importantly, how the hell do you know my password?" I ask astonished, flabbergasted.

"I saw you put it in on our way up. And you can tell a lot about a person based on their music. Like, for instance, Kill Everyone by Hollywood Undead. Can you say anger issues?" he asks rhetorically, but I feel the need to answer anyways.

"You knew since we were twelve that I have anger issues, ergo I'm failing to see you're point. And it's a good song."

"Okay fair enough. There's also Broken Pieces by Apocolyptica. Sounds very down and depressing, don't ya think?"

"Okay, that one you're right about. I'll give you that."

"Lithium by Evanescence?"

"Point two."

"You also have… our song…" he trails off.

"By Taylor Swift?" I ask confused.

"No, I mean you have our song. Always by Panic! At The Disco."

"Um, yeah. I do indeed have our song. But I feel that that would be point two for me. Did you think I would not have our song, Percy? I mean, really?"

"It's just nice to know that I'm not the only one who has it, is all."

"Yeah, sometimes I'll listen to it when I'm sad to remind me that I have you," I confess. He smiles. "But then, I think of what I put you through sometimes and how you didn't really know who I am. I think of how your life could be better without me plaguing it," I say and his smile quickly fades.

"You know you shouldn't feel like that, Annabeth. You are not a liability in my life. You're one of the few assets I actually have. Implant that in your brain, Wise Girl. Talk to me when you feel like that, Anna. Mark my words: you will NEVER be a liability to me and my life would be absolutely unbearable without you."

We spent three more hours having Percy's much wanted "heart to heart" discussion. Three agonizingly long hours of going through my iPod and answering question after question of Percy. I don't know how his brain works so fast with this kind of stuff but is a total nincompoop when it comes to school and important things. So far, I've answered probably over fifty questions and just as Percy opens his mouth to ask another question, I hear footsteps. I pounce on top of him and cover his mouth so he can't speak. He points towards his head, hinting me to put on my invisibility cap. I put it on after telling him to crouch and hide behind one of the boulders. I know, it sounds silly to tell a six foot four dude to hide behind a giant rock, but there was nothing else. I sneak out to see who it is and it takes me a minute to realize that the person is Michael. He changed his hair completely from what I remember and he was smoking a joint. I ran back into the circle as quietly as possible. I pace around in circles.

"Annabeth, what is it?" Percy whispers.

"I'll be right back. Don't move."

"Hey, I'm not the one that can't be caught here."

"Gods, Percy! Does it kill you to shut up? Just wait here for a minute.. or two."

I walk back out and go back over to Michael. I walk backwards in front of him and take note to the ear buds he has in his ears. I take one of the ear buds out so swiftly it was as if the wind and just blown it out of his ear and whisper, "You bastard."

"Annabeth?" he gasps.

I almost stumble backwards knowing that he remembers my name, my voice. But then I remember why I came back over to him. I continue, "I thought we told each other we would never do drugs, Mike. I thought we were above that. If that hasn't stopped you, why did it stop me? What gives you the right to break that promise, to do that to yourself?"

"Because…" he chokes. "Because I miss you so goddam much. You don't know what it's like. To not know where your best friend is after having them just ripped out of your life over night without any warning at all. You don't know the pain I've been through because of you, because of your leaving."

"I'm so sorry, Michael. I had no idea-"

"Of course you didn't! You know why? Because you didn't write, or call, or anything! You left every single person in this God forsaken village in speculation wondering what the fuck happened to you! Where are you, Annabeth? Why don't you just come home?!"

"I would love to, but I can't. I can't tell you why I can't come home. Just know that I think of you, all of you. You'll always have a special place in my heart."

"I love you, Annabeth. Just please come home."

My voice hitches. I walk away, taking off my Yankees ball cap. I'm almost to the boulder circle when I hear him whisper, "I knew that was too good to really be her," as he takes another drag. I run into the circle and collapse on the ground. Percy notices my tear stained face.

"Annabeth."


	13. Stop Looking At My Ass

**I know what you're thinking: "whoa, back to back updates?!" yes. I'm trying my best to finish this story as soon as i can. Just think of this as writing on steroids haha. Please review with your thoughts, opinions, suggestions, flames, anything. thanks y'all 3**

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Chapter 13

**Percy POV**

"Annabeth, what did you do?"

"That was Michael…" she trails off.

"The guy smoking weed? He's your friend?" I ask.

"He was my best friend. I can't believe the one time I come back to Tully I find him smoking weed. Promises really mean nothing nowadays."

"You know, I heard the conversation you had with him," I confess.

"Yeah, and?"

"And I understand why you're crying. It's okay, Annabeth."

"I'm not crying because I'm upset, Percy. I'm pissed. I'm pissed at Michael for breaking the one promise we had to keep and I'm pissed at myself for what he said, for putting him through this pain."

"You've had a lot of pain too. He just doesn't know how to handle it."

"I didn't know how to either for a while, Perce. That's the one thing we have in common: our lack of coping abilities."

"Does he know, Anna? About the…" I trail, lacking an exact word for it.

"No, he doesn't know. It happened after I got to camp. He doesn't really need to know."

"Then ask yourself: is that probably the same way he feels about the drugs? I mean, if you're not being completely honest, why should he?"

Okay, I'll admit that I'm stepping over the line a little bit with that comment, but it's true and she needs to think about it seriously. Now I understand why she's always pissed at me when I don't know something that blatantly obvious. It sucks having to be the smart one. She needs to get her shit straight right now so everything can go back to normal. I hate being the smart one just as much as she hates being wrong. For a millisecond, I swear I saw her eyes have fire in them. However, it died down as soon as it started.

"Fair point," she admitted, trying to control her temper. "But still. They're two completely different things."

"Anna."

"Fine. I may have been wrong to go off on him like that."

"So, you can admit that you were wrong about this, but it would have killed you to admit you were wrong about the Rachel thing?" I ask, getting a little upset.

"You and I both know that that is completely different and has absolutely nothing to do with any of this and therefore has no relevance. And ya know what, no I can't admit I'm wrong about that because a part of me recognizes that you and Rachel had a thing before she became the oracle and I can't pretend that seeing you with her at all doesn't piss me off, oracle or not."

"Gods, Annabeth. Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" I say chuckling.

"I don't know. It probably would have extended half of the fights. And, sometimes I'd rather die than to admit it's my fault."

"No, it would have ended them a lot quicker. You weren't mad at the fact that someone else came on to me, necessarily. You were made at who it was."

"Yeah, pretty much."

I walk over to her, pull her into a giant hug and whisper, "Nobody could ever replace you. Not even Lady Aphrodite herself. I love you, Annabeth, and only you."

"Yeah I know, Percy. But, could you do me a favour?"

"What?"

"Get. Off. Right. Now."

"And what are you gonna do if I don't, Wise Girl?" I ask laughing.

"I won't help you with schoolwork and you'll fail everything," she threatened, giggling.

"That's so evil," I told her as she smiled. "It's kind of sexy."

"Gods, Percy. Get your hormones balanced or something. Seriously," she says while checking my watch. "Now's a good time to get going. Come on, let's go," she commands as she strides in front of me, pulling me with her. "Oh, and Percy?" she adds, "stop looking at my ass."

"I can't help it. And besides, wouldn't you rather have me staring at it than someone else?"

"Point taken, but still," she says as she puts on her Yankees cap. I roll me eyes and laugh at her antics. "Don't laugh," she defends, "some of us have to hide out here."

We continue walking until we hit Song Lake Xing when we start walking up the road. We walk side by side making small talk for a little while. However, when hears a car come up behind us, she gasps, "Oh shit."

"What's wrong, Wise Girl?"

"That's Mr. Brill. He's going to work. Shit. I totally forgot about that."

"You're wearing your invisibility hat, you're fine, Annabeth."

"I'm more worried about you, Seaweed Brain."

"Why?"

"Strange, out of town kid walking down the road talking to thin air."

"Oh, that's a good point."

Just as I say that, the car comes towards us and starts to stop next to me. The window rolls down, revealing a middle aged man with greying hair and a grey mustache. I turn to the side Annabeth is on just in time to hear her mutter, "Dammit." I have to say, I'm with her on that one this time. I turn back towards the car.

"Can I help you, sir?" I ask him.

"No, I think it's quite the opposite. Do you need some help gettin' somewhere, son?"

"No, I know where I'm going and I know how to get there," I assure him.

"You need a ride into the village?"

"No," I reply. "Gods, he won't go away, Anna," I mutter, but he heard.

"I beg your pardon, young man?"

"Nothing."

"Who were you talking to before I got here? There's nobody else around."

"Um, nobody," I answer quickly, trying to stay out of trouble, but of course that's impossible for me.

"You're lying, boy. I don't like that. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital inside town and help you to the mental patient ward…" he says.

"I'm not a mental patient."

"You were talking to thin air… that's a good sign of being mentally unstable," he says as he gets out of the car, grabbing my arm to help me in. However, Annabeth grabs my other one and tugs as hard as she can. Surprised by this, Mr. Brill decides to pull harder on my other arm which causes her to pull even harder and yell, "Stop!"

"What the-," he starts but stops as soon as Anna takes off her hat. "Annabeth?" he asks astonished.

"Mr. B, please let go of him," she pleads.

"You're back…"

"Yes, but you won't remember it."

"Huh?"

"Do me a teeny favour and get back in the car for a sec, please?" she asks, innocently which means shit's definitely about to go down. However, he follows her orders and gets back in the car. When he gets back in, she takes some sort of shot out of her bag and proceeds to give it to him via his neck.

"What the fuck was that?" I ask her, referring to the shot she just gave him.

"I'll explain on the way, let's go!" she responds, grabbing my hand and sprinting off. When then car is out of our sight, we finally stop running.

"Okay, explain."

"That was kind of like a tranquilizer, but a little different."

"Different how?"

"Well, instead of calming someone, it makes them permanently forget things. In this case, it would be seeing you and me. Good enough?"

"Yeah, but why did you have it?"

"It was supposed to be for me. I don't know specifically why, but it has something to do with my episodes. I guess sometimes they want me to forget what caused it so I don't think about it again and have another one," she shrugs.

"Where was that when-," I start.

"Finish that though and I swear to the gods I will not hesitate to roundhouse kick you in the small of your back," she finishes.

"I think I'll shut up now."

"Wise choice," she says. "Ew, that tasted horribly in my mouth."

"What did?"

"Calling you wise."

I playfully punch her shoulder and she rolls her eyes.

"You roll your eyes much more and they'll fall out of your head, Wise Girl. Or are you the Seaweed Brain now?" I ask. Her mouth drops. "Careful, you'll catch bugs."

"I hate you, Perseus."

"So much that you love me?"

She opens her mouth to respond, but decides against it. Instead, she just saunters off yelling back, "You see this," shaking her ass, "you can kiss it," and strolls off into the distance. I run after her and when I catch up to her, I grab her by the hips and pull her close to me.

"When?" I ask her suggestively.

"You're a pervert, Jackson," she says laughing. "But, I love you."

"See, I told you."

"Whatever. Come one, we don't have much farther to go. All we have to do is walk about two miles west, climb up some rocks, and we're pretty much at the cave," she explains.

As we start walking, I for some reason feel the need to say, "Hey, Annabeth, why don't you walk in front of me?" I expected her to hit me or something, but instead she says, "Okay," and walks backwards in front of me asking, "Better?" She laughs as I frown at this. As I grab her and pull her into me, she loses her balance and falls on top of me. Taking advantage of this situation, I lean up a little and catch her lips with mine. A moan escapes from her mouth and our tongues start to wrestle. I trace her body with my hands, but she reluctantly pulls away.

"Come on, Percy. We're almost done with this stupid quest. Finish this quest and we get back, we'll do whatever you want."

That offer was all too tempting. I did what any man would do. I accepted. We got off of the forest floor and continued walking until we ran into this giant, fifty foot cliff. This must be what she meant when she was talking about the rocks we had to climb up, although cliff would have been a much more descriptive word, however, I left it alone. It took us about twenty minutes to scale it and make it to the top. Once we got up there, we stood by the side of the cave.

"Annabeth, why aren't we just going in there?"

"Since when have we ever really been able to do that without running into trouble?"

"Good point," I say as she peeks inside for a second to see what or who is in there.

"Oh my gods."

"What?"

"Khione has Aphrodite trapped in what is essentially a big block of ice."

"Who?" I ask more confused.

"Khione: the Titan goddess of snow and ice."

"Shit…"


	14. In a tree On a tree farm

**Hey, ya'll. This is the longest chapter yet. Only one more chapter after this one. Brace yourselves.**

**allen r : Technically this is less of them fighting.**

**BryanTheWriter: I'm glad you enjoy my stories. I wouldn't say I'm an incredible writer, but I know that I'm not a shit one. And that would be very cool if you did. Here's your update, dear!**

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**Annabeth POV**

"What are we gonna do?" I ask him.

"Well, we could-,"

"That will never work."

"You didn't even let me finish!" he says and I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow.

"Which one of us lead us into the Second Olympian War and lead us into victory?" he asks, trying to prove himself worthy of having an excellent plan.

"You act like you were some big hero, Percy. We both know that Luke was the true hero," I say, stepping closer to him, starting to get angry with him. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but thinks better of it.

"I know, Anna. All I'm saying is that occasionally I'm capable of having a good idea or two."

"All right. What's your ever so fantastic idea?" I say, sighing in defeat.

"Why don't we just call Apollo to help us melt Aphrodite free?"

"Do you think it would work?"

"We can at least try," he answers, being the optimist he is.

"Fine. You'll have to climb back down and go to that stream over there to Iris message him."

"You're not going to come with me?" he asks confused.

"You're the one that's having this wonderful idea. I'm not needed."

"Have it your way then," he tells me as he wills the water from the stream to float up to us, creating our own miniature stream in the air. Against the sun, a rainbow appears in the water and Percy asks Iris to connect us with Apollo. At first, we are both a little confused because we see Artemis. However, shortly after, Apollo comes into view and they seem to be arguing about something. That's when Thalia also comes into view.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kick her out of the Hunters, Brother!"

"Because she is your best Hunter."

"I can find others."

"None that match her."

"She disobeyed orders."

"She saved Annabeth's life. We both know that."

"A-hem," I clear my throat, getting their attention. They all turn their heads and look at us through the Iris message.

"Oh, hey, Annabeth. Percy," greets Apollo.

"Do you two need something?" Artemis asks.

"Um, yeah. Actually we do. Apollo, we need your help. You see, Khione has Aphrodite trapped in ice and we would really appreciate it if you would melt her free or something of the sorts," Percy says.

"Well, I can't help you directly right now, but I think there's something that will help you in a nearby tree at a farm that could help you. It's a miniature sun. All you have to do is throw it up in the air and this is where I'm gonna lose Annabeth… you'll have to sing in order for it to actually work. Use the prophecy in order to choose the right song," he says to me.

"Damn. I guess I have to, huh?"

"Don't worry, Annabeth. I watch over you, too. You'll be fine. Sometimes I wonder if you're actually one of my children," Apollo tells me.

"Mmm.. okay. And may I ask why Thalia may be getting kicked out of the Hunters?"

"Remember when I came to visit you, Annabeth?" Thalia pitches in.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I didn't exactly get permission. I kinda just went."

"Sometimes I swear you are the dumbest friend I have…" I say, face palming.

"If I hadn't been there when you had you episode, you'd probably be dead right now! You should be thanking me."

"Maybe if you had stayed, she wouldn't have had the episode in the first place!" Artemis yells.

"She would have had one no matter what," Percy chirps in, causing all of us to turn our heads and stare at him quizzically.

"How do you figure?" we ask in unison.

"Annabeth, face it. You probably would have sent yourself into one by thinking too much. Hades, you may have even done it on purpose in an effort to kill yourself."

I stare at him in disbelief. He raises an eyebrow as if daring me to prove him wrong, but I know that I can't. He knows that too, though. I can tell by the smirk on his face, but there's also a hint of concern knowing that what he said is true. He immediately snakes his arm around my waist protectively as if he is scared that he will lose me. I take advantage of the situation and rest my head on his chest.

"He's right," Apollo breaks the silence.

"Fine," Artemis says defeated. "Just don't let it happen again." And with that, she disappeared.

"What the fuck, Apollo? Who are you to just agree with what Percy said?"

"Your therapist and the one who told you to take the damn anti-depressants," he answers plainly. Just as I start to get angry he adds, "Hey, don't forget your coping mechanism: singing," just before he wipes the Iris message away.

"That dick!" I exclaim to no one in particular.

"Annabeth, he's just trying to help-," he starts, but stops as soon as he sees I put on my Yankees cap.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Some of us have suns to find," I whisper into his ear from behind him, making him jump.

"How are we gonna get it?"

"I have a plan, Percy. I always have a plan," I say from approximately fifty feet from him.

"Why aren't we climbing back down the face of the cliff like we did to climb up?"

"There's an easier way down."

I stand there for a second trying to remember where exactly the hill is that we could simply slide down. I recall that it's on the other side of the cave, but I don't know how to get passed the cave without being spotted by Khione. While contemplating this, Percy bumps into me, causing my cap to fall off my head.

"Sorry, Annabeth."

"No, Percy. Don't be sorry. You're a genius. Well, technically I'm the genius but you helped me get there."

"What's the plan, Wise Girl?"

"The hill is on the other side of the cave. I'll go past the cave first and then toss you the hat so you can cross without being spotted. With our luck, she's probably waiting for us."

"All right then. Go ahead."

I pick up the hat and start to make my way towards the cave. Right as I get to the edge of the cave, I put on the hat and sneak safely past the opening. I throw a rainbow to Percy with the hat hoping that he can catch. Though, he was probably just hoping I could throw since he's, you know, Percy. Thankfully he catches it and passes by without a hitch.

"Okay, give me my cap back," I command.

"Make me," he murmurs in my ear.

And I, being the obedient person I am, do indeed make him. If he won't give it back willingly, I'll simply take it from him. I close my eyes and take deep, steady breaths to become more aware of my surroundings. No, not just more aware, hyperaware. I take another moment and finally open my eyes. One minute later, I reached out to my left and got my hat back.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" he asks.

"Extreme skill. Skill you do not nor will you ever possess."

"Fair enough, I guess. I don't like the answer, but it's honest."

"Perce, how good are your baseball skills?"

"Never played. Why?"

"Watch and learn," I say as we draw nearer to the hill.

When we're about ten feet away from the hill, I ask him if he's ready. He nods in confusion as I tell him to stay and copy exactly what I do. I sprint full speed ahead towards the hill and where it starts to decline is when I kick out my left foot, putting my right one behind me. That's right, guys. I, Annabeth Chase, just literally slid down a hill like I was stealing home plate. When I get to the bottom, I motion for Percy to follow. He stands there for a second and stares at me like I've lost my mind.

"Come on, Percy. We don't have all day!"

"But why-," he starts.

"Don't be such a sissy bitch, Jackson!"

With that comment, he immediately does exactly what I had done not even one minute prior. The sight lain before my eyes right now has to be the most hilarious thing ever. This is how I know that the only physical exercising he has ever done is sword fighting. His version of sliding is starting the motion then doing it wrong and rolling down the hill like an idiot. If he hadn't gone in the River Styx, odds are he'd be at least seriously injured right now. When he's done with his failed attempt at sliding and he's standing back up at the bottom of the hill, I burst out laughing.

"What?" he asks with that goofy lopsided grin that I love, but it only makes me laugh harder.

"That…Was…You…Sliding?" I manage to get out in between laughs.

"Ha-ha. Laugh it up, Chase. Just know that when we get back to camp, you are so getting thrown in the lake. See who's laughing then," he says, and with that my laughing ceases.

"You wouldn't."

"Wanna test that?"

"Yeah, not really."

"Didn't think so," he says as we walk towards the Brills'.

As we draw nearer and nearer to the farm, I ask, "You were joking just then, right?"

"Why on Earth would you think that?" he asks smirking.

"I'm so fucked."

"Maybe later."

"Promise?" I ask half joking, half serious.

"Pinky promise on the River Styx," he says, holding out his pinky finger which I take and put with mine while I roll my eyes.

I put on my Yankees hat as we proceed towards the farm. I have a feeling that I know exactly which tree Apollo was talking about. The oak tree in their side yard, which is easily accessible off the main road. It just has to be. Otherwise I would have to check over one hundred other trees, which I am so not doing. I mean, really Apollo, you hide a sun in a tree on a farm that is fully dedicated to trees. I kind of hate him so much right now. We stop a few yards away from the tree and I reveal to him my plan.

"Okay, Percy. You see that large oak over there with the swing?"

"Mhmm."

"I'm gonna go over there, grab the bag out of the hole on the other side facing the farm, and then I need you to walk past and catch it when I throw it to you."

"You think it's going to work?"

"Not at all," I admit. "But, we gotta try something," I say as I turn around to walk over to the tree.

I get to the edge of the Brill's property and check to see if anyone is outside or at least near where I had to be. Granted, I do have on my Yankees cap, but you can never be too safe. I don't see anyone around so I presume it's safe to check the tree. I slowly make my way over to the tree that held the most memories on the whole entire farm. I remember the time when we all decided to swing and see who could jump the highest. Of course, Michael won, but not without almost breaking his arm. I think that's a guy trait. While looking back upon the memories and good times, I forget what I'm supposed to be doing and run into the tree. I circle the tree and find the hole, reaching in and I feel a piece of fabric. I reach in further until I can get a steady, tight grasp on the velvet bag and take it out. As Percy walks by the farm, I toss the bag to him not even thinking to look and make sure nobody is around. Let me just say this: oops. I start running to catch up with Percy.

"Hey, stop!" they yell at us (well, Percy, but I was there too, they just didn't know.) Percy and I keep running and despite how fast the two of us are, one of them caught up to us: Grace. Sarah and Mikey soon join. Percy and I accept our fate and stop running.

"How did you get that?" asks Grace. She looks exactly the same. Tall and lean with sun kissed skin and blonde hair stopping at her ears.

"I had it the whole time," answers Percy.

"No. No you didn't. The bag literally flew through the air to you from our yard, our tree. It was on our property, so clearly it's ours. Give it back," commands Sarah. She, just like Mike has changed. Her hair was now black and she wore heavy black eyeliner and mascara. She vaguely reminded me of Thalia in that respect.

"It's not yours. This is mine," Percy says calmly.

"Give it back!" Sarah says pulling on the bag so hard that I swear the bag would rip if I don't do something. So I do.

"Guys, stop!" I yell, taking off my cap.

"Annabeth?!" they all exclaim in unison, running to hug me, but backing away slowly as they come to reality. "Annabeth…?" they ask, now confused and unsure if what they're seeing is for real or not.

"Yeah," I sigh.

"I knew it wasn't just a hallucination that I saw!" Michael says, picking me up in a hug. At this, Percy growls protectively.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Michael asks, growing angry.

"That guy is Percy, my boyfriend," I say as Percy puts his arm around my waist, protectively.

"Settled, did you Annabeth?" he asked.

"Absolutely not. I did not 'settle' on Percy. If anything, he settled on me."

"So doesn't that mean that you're not perfect for each other? We could have been perfect, Annabeth. And trust me, it's you that settled for him. If you had just stayed and not up and left out of the blue, we could've had something, Annie!"

"What did you just call me?" I ask slowly, angrily.

"I called you Annie. I always used to call you Annie. What, now that he's in your life you're all of a sudden too good to be called Annie?" Michael accuses.

"Bro, fuck off," Percy chimes in before I can do serious damage to Mike.

"Dude, make me."

_Big mistake, Michael_, I thought to myself. Now, don't get me wrong, Michael was muscular, but Percy was stronger, taller, and had more practice in fighting. If I had all the money in the world, I would bet it all on Perce. None of us wanted to stop them right away so Sarah, Grace, and I backed away slowly watching them circle one another waiting for the perfect time to launch at the other. Just when we thought that they weren't gonna fight, which I really should've known better, Michael lunges towards Percy. Percy easily steps to the left and dodges his sloppy punch. However, Percy manages to catch Mike's arm and twists it behind his back causing him to grunt in pain. Before any of us can do anything, Percy has Mikey pinned down to the ground with his knee on his chest and his forearm placed firmly on his neck, nearly killing him. He presses down his arm even harder.

"Talk to her like that one more time…" he warns.

"Percy, get off of him. Come on. You're gonna kill him," I beg of him.

"Maybe I should. He has no right to talk to you like that," he says almost completely killing off Michael's oxygen.

"Percy, look at me," I tell him, touching his Achilles Heel. He shudders and whips his head towards me. I swear to gods I could literally see his eyes turning red from the anger.

"Percy," I say, looking him directly in his eyes, "look. I'm not hurt. I'm fine. You're right; he has no right to speak to me and of me like that. However, he does have the right to free speech hence he is allowed to say such things despite what others think. Now, please, stop hurting him.  
We need to get going anyways. Aphrodite can't free herself."

"You're right."

"I know I am, Seaweed Brain. Now get up so I can erase their memory of ever seeing us."

"So, you're just gonna leave again? Just like that?" Sarah asks in dismay.

"I'm not the town's most famous disappearance for nothing."

"How are we gonna wipe their memories, Wise Girl?"

"Easy."

I punch Sarah and Grace as hard as I can in their faces and render them unconscious. _Please don't let them remember that I was here. Hades, don't even let them remember Percy. Just please don't let them remember today's events_, I pray to the gods. I would have done the same to Michael, but Percy already made him unconscious during the fight. He and I walk away and head back towards the hill, instead of climbing up the rocks.

"Percy, you almost killed him. Do you know that?" I ask, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Yeah, I know. Annabeth, I am so sorry. I… I don't know what happened. He started talking to you like that and I just got so angry. It was like I was seeing red. I just couldn't help it."

"It's okay, Perce. You're still the only one who can get away with calling me Annie. And you know what; he USED to call me that. He can't anymore. You know why? Because of you. You're the only one I want calling me that. You shouldn't have felt threatened by him. He is a thing of the past Percy. Talking about him is like talking about Luke. I love you, Percy. Nobody else, just you."

"I know. I'm just really sorry. I shouldn't have lost control. Annabeth-," he starts to say but I cut him off by kissing him. His arms find their way around my hips as my hands entangle through his hair. His tongue gives up the fight for dominance and mine explore his mouth. I pull away from him and look into his eyes that have gone back to normal.

"Better?" I ask him.

"Much." He says as we continue our way to the cliff. When we arrive at the cliff, we reluctantly and tiredly make our way up the hill which is quicker and a lot easier than climbing up the face of the cliff. Ten minutes late, we find ourselves standing near the opening of the cave. We look at each other and prepare to go in and fight. We run in there, Percy with his sword drawn ready to have my back since I had to free Lady Aphrodite. When we get in there, all we see is Aphrodite's trapped body, with Khione nowhere in sight. I take the bag and open it, dumping the contents: a yellow sphere. The mini sun that Apollo was talking about. It wasn't hot to the touch or blinding though which made me question whether or not it was Apollo's gift. However, after turning it over I know it is as it has his name etched into it.

"You ready?" asks Percy.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I respond.

"Then I guess you'll never be ready," says an icy voice from out of virtually nowhere.

"Khione," Percy and I say simultaneously.

"Very good, my dears. I'm afraid that I'm not gonna be able to let you take her back. I may even have to kill you."

"Then come out here and fight," Percy counters firmly.

"All right," she says, the cave dropping thirty degrees I swear.

She appears right in front of Percy who immediately starts to fight her. As I start to reach for my dagger, Percy looks at me.

"No, Annabeth. Now. Do it now!"

I follow his instructions and toss the sun into the air and begin.

"_I'm bullet proof,_

_Nothing to lose_

_Fire away, fire away_

_Ricochet, you take your aim_

_Fire away, fire away_

_You shoot me down_

_But I won't fall_

_I am titanium _

_You shoot me down _

_But I won't fall_

_I am titanium_

_I am titanium_

_I am titanium_

_Stone hard, machine gun_

_Firing at the ones who run_

_Stone hard, those bullet proof guns,_" I finish and there is an explosion of light right about the frozen goddess. Much to my surprise, though it shouldn't be, Percy had already beaten Khione. Within a matter of seconds, the love goddess emerges from the ice.

"Thank you, my little doves."

"No. I'm not playing this game with you right now. I want answers. Now," I demand.

"Annabeth, dear. No need to get all worked up. This is about the Rachel thing and the fight in the woods, isn't it?"

"Nooo, it's about bunnies and unicorns. OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT THAT!" I scream at her. Percy tries to grab my hand and calm me down, but I refuse.

"Relax, Annabeth. It's quite simple, actually. You see, I moved my energy to Rachel to try to start some ruckus so maybe you'd figure out that there's something wrong since I would NEVER split up the best couple I've paired since… well, no couple even begins to compare to you guys. Anyways, I thought that maybe you'd pick up on that she's the oracle and actually can't do anything, but you were too stupid for even that. So, when that didn't work, I transferred my energy to the woods that night which triggered all the events after."

"Why didn't you just transfer your energy to wherever we were and just tell us you were trapped and needed help?"

"That wouldn't have been as much fun, now would it?"

**Percy POV**

"You bitch!" she says taking out her dagger. As soon as she does this, Aphrodite manages to muster up a sword. Huh, who knew? Anyways, her sword makes contact with Annabeth's dagger and they start battling. I let them go for a little while so they can both blow off some steam. I thought that's what they were trying to do, but boy was I wrong. They are fighting to kill. Aphrodite kept coming closer and closer to actually having her sword make contact with Annabeth, however she hangs in there. Once I deem that they had fought for long enough, I go in there and try to pull Annabeth away and get the fighting to stop. I grab her arms and start dragging her backwards with me. That proved to be possibly the biggest mistake ever. Aphrodite, already having the swing of her sword in motion, can't stop it. She stabs Annabeth in the stomach. I hear a blood curdling scream from Annabeth.

"Oops," Aphrodite manages, then disappears into a cloud of pink dust.

Annabeth loses consciousness in my arms as I hurry to think of a way to heal her. I know what you're thinking: why not just give her some nectar and ambrosia? Well, that would be because I forgot to pack any and I know she didn't pack any since we had made a deal that I would bring it. I need to get her somewhere and fast. She was losing too much blood. Then it hit me: take her to Dani's.


	15. Aphrodite Knows How To Fight?

**Well guys, this is it. The last chapter. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have. Well, I actually hope you've enjoyed it more since I hate this story and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I love all you guys and hope you read my next story that will be entitled Every Lie. **

**sunny123781: I will undersell myself because (don't hate me for this because I love you) Jon made me do it since he's an asshole. And I know you're my best friend. You don't need to tell me that, you're mine too chickie! I haven't seen you in like 5 days, holy shit. Such a long time. Let's not fight over my phone next time though, k? haha love you! Maybe I'll start writing the beginning of our book soon!:) **

* * *

Chapter 15

**Percy POV**

I pick her up bridal style and ran down the hill. Once I get her down, and myself obviously, I recall a few nights ago and how we got to the point we are at… And where I parked the car. I think about risking it and just going to the Brills' house in order to retrace my path when we drove in, but I don't think Annabeth would be too thrilled if that happened. However, the logicalish part of my brain reasons that it's the quickest way to get her help and to safety. For once in my life, I follow that side of my brain. I sprint until we get to the tree farm of her friends and run full speed ahead past it. I keep going absent mindedly until I almost literally run into my car. I lay her in across the back seat and get in the car and speed off. I drive so fast that the time was cut nearly in half. Normally, it's a fifteen minute drive, but it only took me seven. I come to a screeching halt in front of Danielle's house and carry Annabeth to the door. I knock feverishly on her door until she opens it.

"Can I help—Percy!" she shouts and goes to hug me, but quickly notices the unconscious body that I hold. "Oh good gods. Come in, Percy. Set her on the couch." I do as she says.

"Can you help, Dani?" I ask her desperately.

"Lucky for you, I'm a med student and oddly enough, we covered this sort of accident in one of my classes. Don't ask me why. Hold on, let me get my med kit," she says disappearing into her bathroom. "Can you lift her shirt up so I can have access to the wound please?" she asks, emerging from the bathroom and I do as she says. This is the one time I will probably ever be happy that Annabeth is unconscious because if I were her right now and conscious, I would be screaming my face off. Dani takes one washcloth, wet, and tries to get all the blood that has already escaped my Wise Girl. She keeps constant pressure on the wound to get the bleeding to stop. Some time later, and by some time I mean an hour and a half and three washcloths later, the bleeding finally stops. She starts to clean out the wound with alcohol.

"How in Hades did this happen, Percy?"

"You know the usual. Stabbed by a god."

"Which one?"

"Aphrodite."

See here's the cool thing about my cousin: she knows that I'm a half-blood. She knows about the gods and goddesses as well as whom my father is. Though, she can't see through the mist like Rachel, she still tries to understand and for the most part she does.

"Aphrodite knows how to fight?" she asks stunned.

"I know. We didn't really expect it too much either."

"Well obviously!"

"This actually happened a while into the fight. It's really my fault. I tried to pull her away by her arms and Lady Aphrodite took the chance to stab her, though I don't think it was totally on purpose," I say. Annabeth starts to stir. "Wise Girl? Wise Girl, come on. Wake up."

"Wise Girl?" Danielle says questioningly.

"Yeah," I say and Annabeth's eyes flutter open. However, not exactly at the best time. Dani was still rubbing alcohol on the wound.

"Ow!" she exclaims. I take her hand and shush her, calming her down. "Talk about instant Karma," she says as Danielle finishes cleaning out the wound, tapes gauze across it, and takes the med kit to the bathroom.

"Percy, you can take her upstairs and put her in my bedroom to rest if you'd like," Dani tells me and I look to Annabeth to see what she wants to do.

"I don't wanna go lie on the bed, but I would like to stand up and walk around a bit," she manages to whisper to me. I bend down and put an arm around her waist and she puts an arm around my shoulder and I help her up off the sofa. We start walking towards the kitchen to let her move around. Danielle comes into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water for each of us.

"Thanks," Annabeth says as I sit her down at the kitchen table. Danielle looks up and now actually sees her patient.

"Oh my gods. Annabeth?"

She looks up. "Danielle?" she gasps.

"You're back."

"Clearly," Annabeth counters. My head moves between the two, watching them like one would a tennis match.

"Does anyone know?"

"Not anymore. You have to promise not to tell anybody. Nobody can know that I was here. I swear to gods, if someone finds out that I was ever here-,"

"I know, I know. You'll kill me, make my life Hades, blah blah blah. I got it."

"Annabeth, calm down," I plead.

"Calm down? You expect me to calm down after you bring me to a mortal's house in my own town that I'm not supposed to be in?!" she flips out.

"She knows, Annabeth. Well, she knew about me, but I can only assume she now knows about you too," I retort.

"You just had to bring me back, didn't you? You couldn't just give me some nectar and ambrosia?"

"I, uh, forget to pack it…" I admit.

"Holy Hera, I'm dating an idiot…" she mutters just loud enough for us to hear.

"Whoa, you guys are dating?!" Danielle shouts. We nod. "My cousin and my old best friend are a couple now. Who would have thought? Then again, it was rather evident that you were a demigod, looking back on it all. You were the only one with ADHD and dyslexia. And you were so ahead of our grade that it wasn't even the slightest bit funny. Let me guess, daughter of Athena? Wow, that sounds weird saying. It all makes sense now, except for one thing. I thought Poseidon and Athena hated each other," she rambles.

"Yes, I am a daughter of Athena and yes our parents hate each other, but they have to put aside their petty differences and old fights. I love Percy and that's never gonna change. We would date even if our parents didn't allow us."

"Wow. You love him that much? That's like breaking the rules. The Annabeth I knew would never do that. You're getting to be a rebel, Annie. It's about time," Dani says and at that Annabeth laughs. "So how long are you guys staying?"

"Not very long, I'm afraid. Annabeth, if we leave now we can be back by dark," I say glancing at my watch.

"Yeah, the sooner we get back the better. I can get some nectar and ambrosia because you're too much of a Seaweed Brain to remember to bring any!" she shouts playfully.

Danielle walks us to the door.

"Danielle, don't forget: you can't tell anyone I was in town. Not even my dad and stepmom."

"Telling them would be really hard to do."

"What do you mean?"

"The moved to North Carolina right after you went missing."

"Gods, that's just like them!" Annabeth yells, on the verge of tears and starts to walk towards the car.

"Thanks for helping fix her up, Dani. I owe you one. We really should get going, though. And I need to calm her down."

"At least you have a five hour drive to do that," she says as she hugs me. I turn to walk away, but she yells for me, "Oh, and Percy? You better treat that girl right."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Danielle," I say and turn back to the car to see that Annabeth had already gotten in and is clearly ready to go. I wave to Dani as we take off. About three hours into the drive, that's when Anna starts to lose it. She begins to cry, but not tears of sadness, tears of anger.

"Annabeth, I know you're upset and pissed off at what Danielle said, but-,"

"We're not talking about it," she says staring out her window.

"We're gonna have to at some point. Might as well get it out of the way now, right?"

"Did you hear what she said, Perce? I didn't even know they had moved. And they moved right after I ran away. It's like they were thinking 'she's finally gone. Let's leave before she can come back.' Like they were happy I was out of their life. It's just like them."

"They probably didn't mean for it to be exactly like that," I try.

"Didn't they, Perseus?" she challenges. I know I am really in for it since she uses my full name, something she never does unless she's really mad. Despite what I think, she doesn't blow up at me farther; instead she looks out the window and puts her ear buds in. Much to my surprise, she puts on some classical music. I look back to the road, but occasionally sneak glances at her. Good thing, too, because I start to notice the stress from her family thing is causing her wound to bleed again. It's starting to bleed through the gauze and seep through the shirt that Danielle so kindly lent to her.

"Annabeth?"

"Hmm?" she responds, half conscious._ Shit._

"You need to calm down. You're bleeding again. We need to get you to camp ASAP before you lose too much blood," I say and she starts to pass out. "Dammit, stay with me Annabeth! No, no, no, no, no, no." I pull off the main drag and onto some side road that nobody seems to be on and call upon, none other than, Blackjack.

_Hey, boss. What'cha need?_

"Blackjack, I need you to take Annabeth back to camp and get her to the infirmary for nectar and ambrosia. She's wounded pretty badly, I didn't bring any, and I fixed her up as best I could. Now go," I say after I put her on Blackjack's back.

About two hours later, I pull up to camp. I've already missed dinner so I head straight to the infirmary to look for Annabeth. Much to my dismay, I don't find her there. The last place I look, is not where I find her, oddly enough: her cabin. I enter the cabin only to be told by Malcolm that she's not there either. I thank him and leave. As I walk to my cabin in worry, I glance at the beach and see a silhouette of a figure that is, to me, unmistakably Annabeth.

"What are you doing?" she asks me, sensing me behind her. I'm still amazed at how she can do that.

"I was looking for you, actually."

"When did you get back?"

"Maybe half an hour ago. If that. How's your wound?"

"Gone," she says, turning around and lifting up her shirt a little bit to prove her statement.

"Good, so you won't mind if I do this then?" I ask, picking her up and throwing her into the lake.

"Perseus Jackson! I swear to gods-," she starts to say but is soon unable to finish due to my jumping in. I swim over to her and pull her under with me. I essentially create a bubble around us and pretty much recreate our first underwater kiss, though with much more tongue this time.

"You swear to gods what, Annabeth?" I say pulling away from her.

"I don't know," she admits.

"How about, you swear to gods that you'll marry me?" I ask her pulling out a ring from my pocket that I've had for quite some time.

"Oh my gods, Percy."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes that's a yes!" she says, throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me.

I place the ring on her finger and say, "Well then, here's to us."


End file.
